UNICEF's Auction for Action to benefit play-based learning program

Only three out of ten Filipino children under the age of six attend pre-school or day care services. This stark statistic, from Department of Education data, is the impetus for UNICEF's Supervised Neighborhood Play (SNP) Program, a unique education initiative that aims to give more poor and disadvantaged Filipino children access to early learning.

Part of the Philippines' drive to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education, the SNP program aims to reach children in remote areas in particular, where the importance of childhood education is not reinforced.

It is simple, low-cost and home-based: A team of day care workers or volunteers will gather the young children of the community in a house, under a tree or in any shaded play area for two to three hours every day, to help them learn through organized play. The program will run for at least 10 months.

“Children learn best through play, so making learning fun encourages a child’s eagerness to learn. Children who have access to early learning are more prepared for regular school and are less likely to drop out,” said UNICEF Country Representative Tomoo Hozumi in a statement on UNICEF's website.

And in support of children learning the fun way, UNICEF Philippines’ online fundraiser, the Auction for Action, will hold this year's sales to benefit the play-based early learning program.

Auction for Action brings together works by the best Filipino talents in the field of arts and design. This year, the auction has engaged almost 100 artists in different areas of discipline to donate pieces with the theme of "Play."

Their artworks were curated and presented to the media last week by UNICEF Special Advocate for Children Daphne Oseña-Paez at the Yuchengco Museum in RCBC Plaza, Makati City. The proceeds of the auction will go towards the SNP program.

"All our funds for children’s programs come from voluntary contributions and this auction provides a venue for people to acquire works from leading Filipino artists and designers and help disadvantaged children at the same time,” said Hozumi.

He added that Auction for Action started in 2011 "with minimal expense but with lots of heart and determination, believing that the worlds of art and design can come together for a worthy cause of helping our children." — BM, GMA News

The Yuchengco Museum opens its doors to the public until Oct. 26 for the viewing of these one-of-a-kind pieces but an online preview is also available on the Unicef Philippines page.

The action goes live on Oct. 21 and will run until Oct. 27. Bid for pieces of furniture, jewellery, home and fashion accessories, paintings, sculptures and other special items online through www.ebay.ph/unicef. Twitter users are encouraged to use the hashtag #AuctionforAction for the online auction as well.