Paddington Teams with UNICEF

The new partnership will see

Paddington

both become a champion for children as well as further UNICEF’s goal to promote children’s rights across the globe.

The first activations for the partnership will take place in the U.K., U.S. and Europe and are scheduled to coincide with the upcoming release of

Paddington 2

, which is set to hit U.K. theaters this November, and the 60th anniversary of the first

Paddington

book, which will be celebrated in 2018.

In the U.K.,

Paddington

and his story will be featured prominently in UNICEF U.K.’s OutRight campaign, which will aim to teach children throughout the U.K. about their own rights and become empowered to speak out in support of all children.

“We are hugely proud that UNICEF has chosen

Paddington

as a champion for its campaign to promote the rights of children all around the globe,” says Simon Gillham,

Paddington

is the perfect example of tolerance, love and openness to other cultures, from Peru to the rest of the world.”

Additional activations in the U.S. and Europe will be announced in the coming months.

“We are living in a time when millions of children around the world are being forced to leave their homes, and to put their trust in the kindness of strangers,” says Lily Caprani, deputy executive director, UNICEF U.K. “As such, it seems especially appropriate and welcome to be working with a partner like Vivendi, and to have a champion like

Paddington

, whose own story of leaving Darkest Peru and finding a new family and home in a strange country, resonates as strongly and freshly today, as it did when it was first published. With the help of partners like Vivendi and

Paddington

, we will be able to make sure that millions more people hear about children’s rights, and with their support, build a world in which every child, wherever they are, knows that there will be people like Mr. and Mrs. Brown, to keep them happy, healthy and safe.”