J.K. Rowling asks fans to share open letter to the U.N.

"Harry Potter" fans know the word "lumos" as a spell that summons light, and author J.K. Rowling has used the word to shine light on a cause dear to her heart.

Her charity project, Lumos, aims to help the 8 million children worldwide who live in institutions because they are poor, disabled or from an ethnic minority. Rowling was driven to found the project after she saw a photo of a boy in a cage in a Czech orphanage.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Rowling asked her fans to share an open letter to the U.N. about accounting for children living outside of households or parental care.

"Please RT our open letter to the UN about the vulnerable children who need to be brought to light," she wrote.

The letter, which was cosigned by more than 100 other organizations, asked the U.N. to make sure they include these children in their data.

"Indeed, all children count, but not all children are counted," it said in the letter. "As a result, some of the world's most vulnerable children - those without parental care or at risk of being so; in institutions or on the street; trafficked; separated from their families as a result of conflict, disaster or disability; or recruited into armed groups - have largely fallen off the UN's statistical map."

The letter recommended that "children living outside of households and/or without parental care are represented in disaggregated data" and that data collection methodologies be improved to ensure all children are represented.

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