I have been a passionate supporter of UNICEF’s work to save and improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable children since I was a child myself, one of the legions of Canadian pupils who carried the black and orange UNICEF Hallowe’en donation boxes.

When I became a member of Canada’s national Equestrian team, I donated my team’s naming rights to UNICEF, rather than auction them to a corporate sponsor.

By riding under UNICEF’s banner, I hoped to lend prominence to UNICEF’s work against the enslavement of children in mounted sports.

Ultimately, UNICEF succeeded in pressuring the UAE to ban the exploitation of children as camel jockeys. The children already held by the industry were returned to their families and their countries of origin.

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