Unicef card givers and receivers will get a surprise this Christmas. Lyres, bells and stylized trees with a hint of Hellenism will foretell the country’s big celebration next year. The cards are the result of an initiative by the Cultural Olympiad, an organization created to highlight the universality of the Olympic ideal through cultural events.

But in addition to the high arts, the organization is reaching out with a “message of love, solidarity and human warmth” to the world’s future – its children – through a unique collaboration with UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund.

The Unicef cards were made by the Cultural Olympiad to emphasize the good works of the donation-driven fund and the “human scale” of the Athens Games . In March it donated $7 million to Unicef’s 2002-2005 Immunization Plus program that helps children in 127 countries. The donation will go toward inoculating 1.4 million children under the age of five against the six diseases most threatening their lives.

“What is being offered by Greece is the ethical revival and renewal of the Games,” Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos said at the Christmas cards’ presentation in Athens. Through the cards “we send the message to all the children and their families” in developed countries. “The other half of the program is the message of love, solidarity and human warmth to the children of less developed countries who have the problem of mortality, of survival through immunization.”

Setting an example
Through programs like this, the Cultural Olympiad, whose mission officially ends when the Games are over, hopes to set an example for other cities hosting the Olympics or events of similar magnitude. Since the Olympiad’s involvement and up until October 2003, more than 650,000 children in over 40 countries have been inoculated against measles, diphtheria, polio, tuberculosis, whooping cough and tetanus.

The decision to collaborate with Unicef also has particular resonance in Greece. As Unicef Goodwill Ambassador singer Nana Mouskouri pointed out, one of the agency’s first projects was to help children during the Greek civil war following World War II. Just as Unicef played a role then in the survival of this country’s youth, now Greece is helping others emerge from desperate circumstances, and hopefully, with their cultural pride intact.

“Culture is above all the prerequisite for survival,” said Venizelos. “It is at the core of human substance and dignity…The Olympic Games are a unique opportunity to recall our history, plan our future, and present the picture and name of the country in new, competitive terms to Europe and throughout the world,” Venizelos added. “And when this is done with tenderness, humility and a humane character, I think the message becomes more easily understood.”

How it all began
The idea was the brainchild of Cultural Olympiad president Evgenios Yannakopoulos. “He supports Unicef anyway,” said Lisa Tsaliki, head of international relations, “and at some point he thought, ‘This is what I do in my personal life - I buy Unicef cards. What if we did something as an institution?’” They contacted Unicef in August 2002, and after a flurry of meetings in Geneva and Athens, announced the cooperation last December in New York.

The donation was well-timed. There is a renewed urgency for routine vaccinations, says Unicef, especially in poor and isolated regions where vaccines reach fewer than one in twenty children. Inoculation is the cheapest way to control the spread of diseases by preventing old ones from re-emerging and head off new infections.

As for the cards, there are two commemorative issues - one for Christmas 2003 (series 31250N) and a spring/summer collection for 2004. Production and design – comprised of five designs sold in packets of ten (€6.50), plus two additional versions for the corporate cards (series 3A032) – were undertaken by the Cultural Olympiad with Unicef’s approval. The Christmas set was designed by Maria Konstantakaki.

The 2004 spring cards are already in production, but the designs and the artist are a closely guarded secret. Tsaliki will only confirm that there are also five designs and they will be sold throughout the year. There is also a commemorate poster.

The Christmas cards are on sale through Unicef’s catalogue and at selected outlets, and a second print run of the popular motifs, which outline the unique initiative on the reverse, has already begun. So get yours quick – and send them early.