Syrian refugee children at Za'atari Camp in Jordan welcomed a recent delivery of Newell Brands writing products, with big smiles. This past April, Newell Brands partnered with UNICEF USA to support global educational programming during COVID-19. The donation to UNICEF USA, which included Sharpie® and Expo® markers and Paper Mate® pens, pencils and erasers among other essential school products, will provide nearly 90,000 vulnerable children with classroom resources. These products will help ameliorate the effects caused by the largest education disruption in history that began in 2020 and has continued into 2021 due to the pandemic

Newell Brands’ donation of 2.8 million school supplies went to children like those in Jordan who are now enjoying expressing their creativity through sketching and coloring. Families living at Za’atari Camp have fled the violence in Syria over the years, and many of the children have little or no memory of their hometowns.

“This is my house in Daraa, Syria. I like to draw and color; it makes me happy. My mom keeps on telling me about our house in Daraa, and this is how it looks like,” said 10-year-old Mohammad, a recipient of Sharpie® markers as he proudly displayed his artwork.

The bright and colorful markers were distributed to children ages six to ten during non-formal education sessions where they are encouraged to sketch freely and relish in the simple joy that comes with creating art.

“The colorful markers play a critical role in ensuring these children’s well-being, every refugee child can develop her hobby and express himself using these colorful markers,” said Abeer Abu Nuktah, facilitator at the Makini Centre at Za’atari Camp, where the markers were distributed.

Newell Brands is proud to have partnered with UNICEF USA on such an important initiative.

Read more about the partnership between Newell Brands and UNICEF USA in the press release, here: https://ir.newellbrands.com/news-releases/news-release-details/newell-brands-teams-unicef-usa-support-global-educational.