© UNICEF/UN060468/Knowles-Coursin

Every child deserves an education. It’s a key factor in lifting generations out of poverty and empowering them to not only survive but also to thrive. As children go back to school this year, FabFitFun teamed up with UNICEF USA to raise awareness and funds for children’s education around the world.

UNICEF’s education programs not only help UNICEF to achieve every child’s right to an education, but also enable us to advance critical agendas such as protection in conflict ridden areas, reducing child mortality, nutrition, peace building, gender equality, and overall systematic changes.

This partnership ensures that children like 12-year-old Rosemitha have the opportunity to go to school. Rosemitha lives in Haiti and spent three years without an education because her mother couldn’t afford it. UNICEF was able to provide Rosemitha and hundreds of thousands of other Haitian students with much-needed school supplies and educational materials, including a blue UNICEF backpack to carry her supplies back and forth from school. She returned to third grade and said, “I take my UNICEF school kit with its notebooks, pens, and pencils everywhere with me. I am very careful with my materials, which have to last until the end of this school year.”

Stories like Rosemitha’s happen in too many places around the world, as millions of children don’t have the basic tools needed to go to school — even a backpack. UNICEF’s iconic blue backpacks not only give children a sense of pride, but also help them fulfill their potential and give them everything they need to be a #FutureGenius. Every genius started out with the same school supplies. As simple as pencils and notebooks seem, they open a world of possibility for children everywhere. We’re using this back to school season to remind families that kids around the world can be packed with potential.

These supplies provide a bright future for children like 14-year-old Djohnny Jean Paul, who couldn’t attend school for several years because his family couldn’t afford the supplies. With UNICEF’s help, he was able to obtain the necessary materials he needed to go back to school. Djohnny said, “I like mathematics, but what I really want for my future is to study hard to become a doctor so I can take care of others.”

This back to school season, invest in the innate potential of every child and empower them for a lifetime of learning and opportunities. Fill the backpack of a #FutureGenius by visiting www.unicefusa.org/futuregenius.

UNICEF USA does not support any company, product or service.