Picture this: A mobile app that captures your child’s moments and helps children around the world

A child’s life is made up of many firsts – moments like a first smile – that we love to celebrate. However, 1.5 million children around the world die each year from a vaccine-preventable disease and don’t celebrate these universal milestones like losing a first tooth or a taking their first step. Shot@Life is the UN Foundation’s newest campaign that educates, connects and empowers Americans to champion vaccines as the most cost-effective way to safeguard the lives of children in developing countries against diseases like polio, diarrhea, measles and pneumonia – and give more children a shot at these important firsts.

Today the campaign is promoting a new mobile app that allows parents and followers of the campaign to capture and share the moments of childhood with stylized photos on Facebook, Twitter or through email. Thanks to a partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the app also includes a Milestone Tracker that outlines developmental and health-related indicators that typically occur in a child’s life from ages 0 to 5.

“At the AAP we are excited to be a part of this new app that parents can use to celebrate their children’s milestones. It’s a great way to document those big moments and make sure kids are developing on track. It’s also a great way for parents to support kids in developing countries, for whom every birthday is an achievement,” said AAP President Robert Block, MD, FAAP.

The app serves as an innovative tool for the campaign’s grassroots movement of parents to continue advocating for social change on digital platforms, while celebrating milestones for children both here in the U.S. and abroad. This tool makes it easy for moms and others to become Shot@Life champions and spread the word about vaccines as one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of children in developing countries—all while capturing “aww”-inducing moments with their little ones.

“Our entire campaign is about connecting with moms in the U.S. and showing them that children in developing countries aren’t so very different from our own children,” says Devi Thomas, director of the Shot@Life campaign. “Through the Shot@Life mobile app, we’re giving moms a tool we know they want that allows them to focus on capturing their children’s milestones, while also engaging with the issue of global vaccines in a thoughtful way.”

For more information about the Shot@Life campaign and mobile app, please visit: www.shotatlife.org/mobile or contact Tina Musoke at 202-496-6386 or tmusoke@unfoundation.org.

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About the Shot@Life Campaign
Shot@Life educates, connects and empowers Americans to champion vaccines as one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of children in developing countries. A national call to action for this global cause, the campaign rallies the American public, members of Congress, and civil society partners around the fact that together, we can save a child’s life every 20 seconds by expanding access to vaccines. By encouraging Americans to learn about, advocate for, and donate vaccines, the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign will decrease vaccine-preventable childhood deaths and give children a shot at a healthy life. To learn more, go to ShotAtLife.org.  

About United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by global corporations, foundations, governments, and individuals.  For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org.