Sport has been declared by the UN to be a fundamental human right for the healthy development of boys and girls. Playing sports strengthens the body and prevents illnesses, reduces stress, depression and the feeling of loneliness, prepares young people for learning and controls behavioral risks.
Through sport, fun and play, children and teenagers learn some of the most important values in life. Sport encourages the creation of friendships; teaches solidarity, loyalty, teamwork, self-discipline; supports confidence; helps develop respect, modesty, communication, leadership; strengthens the ability to deal with problems and helps to understand interdependence. Sport is a universal language able to bridge gaps, promote fundamental values and overcome cultural differences.
SOLIDARITY 2022 – 2000 BRICKS FOR THE SCHOOLS IN IVORY COAST
Pulcino d’Oro’s commitment has turned into a real opportunity for development and a new life for many children who will attend schools built with recycled bricks, thanks to the reuse of plastic bottles.
The environment in which a kid is born and lives plays a fundamental role in his health. In the world, more than 1 in 4 children die before their fifth birthday due to an unhealthy environment due to air pollution, poor or non-existent management of plastic and chemical waste and electrical waste.
In order to defend children’s health, in 2018 UNICEF launched the “Plastic Schools” project which aims to transform the fight against pollution caused by plastic, into an opportunity for some countries such as Ivory Coast.
100% plastic bricks are constructed using every type of plastic except PVC; they are easy to assemble; they have fireproof and waterproof properties and are designed to ensure insulation and resistance to strong winds and bad weather. Other characteristics that make them an optimal solution in the construction field are the low weight and cost and the superior durability and resistance over time.
UNICEF has started a collaboration with the Colombian social company “Conceptos Plasticos” which produces modular bricks derived from the processing of recycled plastic collected in polluted areas of the capital Abidjan. Thanks to this collaboration, 295 tons of plastic waste were recycled in 2019 and doing this activity a thousand mothers were introduced to the official recycling market, allowing them to escape the state of poverty in which they lived.
The Pulcino d’Oro contributed to the Plastic Schools project by donating 6,000 Euros, thus managing to finance 2,000 bricks for the construction of one of the fifteen thousand classrooms foreseen by the project.
SOLIDARITY 2023 – FIGHT AGAINST CHILDHOOD MALNUTRITION WITH PLUMPYNUT LOAF
During the last edition of the Pulcino d’Oro, the Organizing Committee decided to collaborate once again with UNICEF and together we tried to tackle the problem of child malnutrition in African countries.
In the world, 149 million children under the age of 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition and for this reason they risk dying every day. This serious problem represents a real emergency, which causes delays in growth and makes them more vulnerable to diseases. Their only chance to grow strong is a treatment based on specific therapeutic foods.
After years of work by researchers, a special high-protein food was developed in 1996: peanut paste enriched with mineral salts and known as Plumpynut. This is the first ready-to-use therapeutic food for the nutritional rehabilitation of children aged 6 months and above.
In 2023 the Pulcino d’Oro supported the fight against severe acute childhood malnutrition by donating 5,000 Euros, thus managing to finance approximately 15,000 therapeutic Plumpynut loafs.