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Upfront international

Day to make a change

Register now for Unicef's 21st annual Day for Change fundraising campaign, which will take place on Friday 4 February (or another day if you prefer!).

The Day for Change resource pack offers loads of ideas to help pupils change their day to raise money to support Unicef's work in Guyana, South America. Climate change is denying children there clean water, food and a healthy environment. You can 'change your tune' with a singing contest, 'change hands' with a jumble sale or simply 'change clothes' with a non-uniform day.

Register online for your resource pack at www.unicef.org.uk/dayforchangeinfo, call 0844 801 2414 or email dayforchange@unicef.org.uk.

Reaching Millennium goals in Nepal

The Steve Sinnott Foundation is celebrating success in Nepal. Its first Millennium Development Goal project, in partnership with the Manisha Child Welfare Foundation, will protect three schools in West Nepal from the annual threat of being washed away by landslides.

The foundation is also helping with resources, training teachers and providing students with meals. This will ensure that 300 of the poorest children will have a basic education.

The project has linked the schools to schools in the UK for both sides to learn from each other. More schools will join in as the project develops.

Project Manager Sam Tiwari says: "There are 13 more schools in West Nepal in need of similar help. We want to extend our efforts to them."

• You can invest in the project at www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk. Donate via the Charities Aid Foundation or PayPal, or send a cheque to the Steve Sinnott Foundation, 54 Clarendon Road, Watford WD17 1DU.

LGBT MBE

NUT member Clare Dimyon from Brighton recently received an MBE for her 'services to promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Central and Eastern Europe'.

Claire has participated in Pride parades in countries throughout the former Soviet bloc, many of which have a poor gay rights record. She believes her honour may be the first time the words 'lesbian', 'gay', 'bisexual' and 'transgender' have been explicitly used in a citation.

"This piece of British, Pride and LGBT history has been forged by the determination of the LGBT people of central and eastern Europe to parade with Pride, despite the hostility they encounter... They absolutely deserve this honour and recognition," she said.

Claire's engagement with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has led to the translation of the FCO Guide to LGBT People into local languages for young people and their parents.