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Greta Thunberg donates $100,000 prize money awarded for her eco campaigning to UN children's fund to fight coronavirus

Greta Thunberg has donated $100,000 in prize money to help UNICEF fight coronavirus, the UN children's fund said today.  The 17-year...

Greta Thunberg has donated $100,000 in prize money to help UNICEF fight coronavirus, the UN children's fund said today. 
The 17-year-old activist said the pandemic 'is a child rights crisis, like the climate crisis' as she hailed UNICEF's 'vital work to save children's lives'. 
The Swede has urged governments to continue fighting climate change during the health crisis, warning that global warming 'is not slowing down'.
Thunberg was awarded the money by a Danish foundation called Human Act which is also making its own $100,000 donation. 
Greta Thunberg, pictured during a live-streamed International Earth Day appearance last week, has donated $100,000 of prize money to UNICEF
Greta Thunberg, pictured during a live-streamed International Earth Day appearance last week, has donated $100,000 of prize money to UNICEF 
'Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is a child rights crisis,' Thunberg was quoted as saying in the UNICEF announcement.

'It will affect all children, now and in the long term, but vulnerable groups will be impacted the most,' she added.
'I'm asking everyone to step up and join me in support of UNICEF's vital work to save children's lives, to protect health and continue education.'
Thunberg had been awarded the $100,000 prize money for her 'worldwide activism', according to UNICEF.  
UNICEF welcomed the funds as it battles to support children affected by school closures and global lockdown measures. 
Thunberg's own absences from school - the weekly Fridays for Future rallies - have been moved online because of the pandemic.  
The 'domino' effects of the pandemic include 'food shortages, congested health care systems, violence and lost educational opportunities,' UNICEF said.   
Proceeds from the campaign will be used to provide children with soap, masks, gloves and hygiene supplies, according to UNICEF.
Although children have not suffered so heavily from the virus itself, the UN warns that the economic crisis could cause hundreds of thousands of child deaths. 
As many as 66million children could fall into extreme poverty, adding to a current figure of 386million, a recent UN report said.   
'Children and young people are among the most severely impacted by the knock-on effects of Covid-19,' said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
Thunberg donated her funds through her non-profit organisation, the Greta Thunberg Foundation, which she established in February. 
Thunberg, pictured at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm last week, compared the 'child rights crisis' of the pandemic to that caused by climate change
Thunberg, pictured at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm last week, compared the 'child rights crisis' of the pandemic to that caused by climate change  
Last week she made a live-streamed appeal for governments to 'tackle two crises at once' by continuing to fight climate change during the pandemic. 
Thunberg's Fridays for Future rallies have been moved online because of the health crisis, but the Swede has continued her demands for urgent action. 
The virus outbreak showed the importance of listening to scientists and other experts, she said. 
The Fridays for Future movement began in 2018 when Thunberg, then aged 15, starting skipping school on Fridays to protest outside Sweden's parliament.   
Her solo protest has since grown into a global movement, regularly attracting huge crowds before the pandemic put a stop to such gatherings.  
Thunberg savaged world leaders in a memorable speech at the United Nations last year, accusing them of 'stealing my dreams and my childhood with your empty words'. 
Her angry glare at Donald Trump after he upstaged her by walking into the climate summit with his entourage also became a viral sensation.
Trump, a climate change sceptic, sarcastically tweeted that she 'seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future'.
Thunberg later adopted the description for her own Twitter profile.  

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