Toy soldiers

DESCRIPTION

When we talk about children 'playing soldiers' we often think of little boys running around a back garden with sticks as guns. Playing 'soldiers' as a child in Africa is less about sticks and more about AK-47s.

The African content has the world’s highest number of child soldiers fighting in wars that they don’t believe in, for causes they don’t understand. Unicef helps many of these children get out of combat and reintegrates them into society. In order to rally support for this programme, UNICEF sent a mail out to supporters and potential corporate sponsors asking to turn soldiers back into children. A familiar pack of plastic toy soldiers was sent out as a piece of direct mail. Once opened, it was clear that the green figurines were not armed, but were simply doing 'normal' things for children - riding a bike, playing football, in a class room.

The simple delivery presents an ongoing reminder of the realities these children face every day.
 

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