MSC Cruises announced that they have raised over 8 million euros for UNICEF, thanks to the generous donations of guests sailing on their cruise ships. The funds raised are used to help children in Africa by providing ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). To date, more than 6.5 million RUFT packages have already been distributed to children in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia and Malawi.

"We have reached this new milestone of contributions, thanks to the generosity of our passengers. We are a family business and, as such, we are very concerned about the wellbeing of families around the world, through the funds raised on board our ships, thanks to our 'Get on Board for Children' initiative, we provide food that they save the lives of children with severe malnutrition throughout the world” said MSC Executive Chairman, Pierfrancesco Vago.

Thanks to these generous contributions over 20.500 children were treated in Somalia, 15.700 South Sudan, 9.400 in Ethiopia and 35.000 in Malawi. Yet through this long-standing partnership, MSC Cruises and UNICEF seek to fight hunger together and helped feed nearly 81.150 children, as well as their families.

MSC Cruises is working with UNICEF since 2009 and together they established in 2013 a global initiative to assist children malnourished in developing countries affected by crises. The initiative encourages guests sailing on MSC cruise ships to make a donation to UNICEF.

After MSC Executive Chairman, Pierfrancesco Vago visited Malawi In April 2016 the company decided that they could and should do more to help the communities in need after the country was left in the worst food crisis in over a decade, affecting 2.8 million people. MSC, therefore, put in motion, together with UNICEF, a project to send mattresses and bed sheets, bicycles, cooking pots, bowls and spoons, farming tools, chalkboards, school pencils, drawing books, toys and puppets for the kids.

Source and photo: MSC Cruises