2024-01-23 23:52:04
On the occasion of World Education Day, UNICEF France and Le Livre de Poche are celebrating a moment of exceptional generosity with the official presentation of a check for 400,000 euros, the fruit of the commitment of the novelist Mélissa Da Costa, who lent his pen to offer a poignant new text entitled “The Star Maker”.
Paris, February 24, 2024 – For 7 years now, UNICEF France and Le Livre de Poche have joined forces to raise funds for children’s education, an essential mission for the future of our world. Latest initiative to date: for each copy sold of “The Star Maker”, two euros are directly paid to UNICEF. Thanks to this partnership and the generosity and loyalty of Mélissa Da Costa’s readers, since the book’s publication on June 7, 2023, the exceptional sum of 400,000 euros has already been raised. These funds will play a decisive role in supporting UNICEF’s actions, particularly for the development of two ecovillages in Madagascar.
. “For 7 years, UNICEF France and Le Livre de Poche have joined forces to publish books which, while providing pleasure, help raise funds for children all over the world. Today, we celebrate a great human adventure. This check for 400,000 euros is much more than a sum of money; it is a beacon of hope for thousands of children. We are infinitely grateful to Mélissa Da Costa and Le Livre de Poche for their exceptional commitment to this crucial cause. “, explain
Adeline Hazan, president of UNICEF France. The 33-year-old novelist, who won over her audience in 2019 with her first book “All the Blue in the Sky” followed since by six other novels, today becomes the most read author in France.
Her text “The Star Maker”, written with great sensitivity, immerses readers in an emotional adventure, exploring the universal themes of childhood, hope and resilience. “This short text, which I wrote when my son was born, transformed into an ode to childhood, to innocence, to carefreeness. It expresses a mother’s ability to preserve children’s dreams in the face of tragedy. When Le Livre de Poche told me about this project with UNICEF, it was like a sign of destiny. This text was not born for nothing. Today it takes on a universal dimension, symbolizing the protection of little boys and girls against malnutrition, lack of care, lack of access to education, and against the conflicts that threaten them in the world. explain
Melissa Da Costa. “We totally share the values of UNICEF and we too have been committed for years to the education of children. Making books accessible to as many people as possible thanks to their price and format has been our mission for over 70 years. The entire Livre de Poche team is proud and happy that the talent and generosity of Mélissa Da Costa were able to give birth to this ambitious project. welcomes
Béatrice Duval, general director of the Pocket Book. “We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, on behalf of the children, Mélissa and all the Livre de Poche teams for this exceptional contribution. Today we celebrate the power of writing and solidarity. We are very proud at UNICEF of the progress made by “The Star Maker”. The power of this moving and poetic text will continue, I am sure, to touch a very wide audience for a very long time. Having associated it with UNICEF is an invaluable opportunity for us and in the current context we need proof of commitment like this, to show that building a better world for children is possible. declared
Ann Avril, general director of UNICEF France. “For me, supporting this partnership is much more than a duty, it is a responsibility towards future generations. The idea that a book can make such a significant contribution to changing lives is a source of continued inspiration. Handing over this check to UNICEF was a moment of great emotion,” concludes
Melissa Da Costa. Building on the success of this operation and eager to be involved in concrete projects, Mélissa Da Costa will extend its commitment alongside UNICEF, by accepting the role of godmother of the nextUNICEF Prize for Children’s Literature
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This ecovillage development program aims to sustainably improve the livelihoods of children and communities, including providing solar electricity services to schools and health centers, raising awareness among children and communities about sustainable management of water, as well as connecting these establishments to the internet to facilitate the sharing of health data and improve education.
Notes to editors:
Today, around the world, 70% of 10-year-old children are unable to read a simple sentence. Without strong foundational skills, children are unlikely to acquire the skills necessary to claim the ability to succeed later in their professional lives. These shortcomings and this delay at the start will have consequences for the rest of their lives.Since 2016, with more than 1 million copies sold, the partnership with Le Livre de Poche has enabled UNICEF to collect more than €700,000, to support, among other things, its action in favor of education, the most effective way to enable millions of out-of-school children around the world to escape poverty and build a future for themselves.
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