HONG KONG, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- The UN International Children's Emergency Fund Hong Kong (UNICEF HK) announced here Thursday that the 12th UNICEF Charity Run will be held on Nov. 26 at the Disneyland Resort and Sunny Bay in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The UNICEF HK, organizer of the Charity Run, calls for 14,000 runners to join the event in support of UNICEF's global campaign against AIDS, which focuses on protecting babies from being infected with HIV at birth and providing treatment, counselling and support for mothers and children affected by HIV and AIDS.
Apart from the Star Wars 5 km Run, there are also Half Marathon, 10 km Run, 5 km Run and 3 km Run for individual runners, families and corporate supporters to choose.
"Since the launch of the UNICEF Charity Run in 2006, we have engaged over 110,000 runners from different sectors and raised over 110 million HK dollars (about 14.1 million U.S. dollars)," Judy Chen, chairman of UNICEF HK said.
Through UNICEF and its partners, the running campaign has averted over 1.6 million cases of mother-to-child transmission of HIV since 2000 while AIDS-related deaths of children aged 0 to 4 have fallen by nearly 70 percent globally.
Jane Lau, chief executive of UNICEF HK said, "The UNICEF Charity Run not only provides a platform for Hong Kong people to support our global effort in building an AIDS-free generation but also a fun opportunity for families and individuals to run for every child."
"We are pleased that it has grown to become one of the most anticipated running events and indeed the biggest charity run in terms of the amount of funds raised in Hong Kong," Lau added.
