Education, Skills and Learning

Shakira: What neuroscience has taught us about a child’s developing brain

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Shakira holds a baby at an emergency relief distribution centre for people affected by Cyclone Sidr in Potuakhali District. The infant's mother stands nearby. Clothing and UNICEF family kits are distributed to children and women at the centre.From 17 to 19 December 2007, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and internationally acclaimed Colombian singer Shakira Mebarak visited Bangladesh to call attention to the situation of children affected by Cyclone Sidr, a Category 4 storm that struck the country on 15 November. More than 3,000 people were killed during the cyclone and an estimated 2.6 million people, half of them children, were left in need of life-saving assistance. In Patuakhali, one of the districts devastated by the storm, Shakira visited a UNICEF-supported child friendly space, one of 60 created to provide recreation and psychosocial support to children affected by the cyclone. She also took part in the distribution of UNICEF family kits to children and women. The kits contain 14 essential household items, such as utensils, a bucket, and soap, designed to assist families who have lost their homes. In the north-western district of Rajshahi, Shakira toured two primary schools in small villages and met with adolescent girls from the UNICEF-supported Adolescent Empowerment Project ('Kishori Abhiham'). She also visited a centre for girls who live or work on the streets, as well as a learning centre for child labourers.

Shakira: Millions of children spend their earliest moments starved of the protection and play Image: UNICEF/Noorani

Shakira Mebarak
UNICEF Global Ambassador; Founder, Pies Descalzos Foundation
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Related topics:
Education, Skills and LearningNeuroscienceBehavioural Sciences
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