India
Newsline
Food crisis ravages India’s poorest children
GURAVAL VILLAGE, Madhya Pradesh, India, 9 June 2008 – In the pre-monsoon heat, the Akushwah family gathered under a Neem tree on their most important mission since a boy was born to the family a year ago.
UNICEF and partners present gripping tele-series focused on social issues in India
DELHI, India, 7 April 2008 – Actresses Geetanjali Gill and Geeta Bisht are in Delhi, filming ‘Kyunki...Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai’ (‘Because...That's What Life Is’), a tele-series created in partnership with UNICEF and the Prasar Bharti Broadcasting Corporation.
Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre brings hope for newborn health in India
LALITPUR, India, 19 February 2008 – Her name, ‘Abhilasha’, means ‘wish’ in Hindi. Not so long ago, she showed all the characteristic symptoms of severe undernutrition. Weighing just 4.5 kilograms, two-year-old Abhilasha had sunken eyes, a swollen belly and shriveled skin.
Documentary film explores the topic, ‘Love (and Babies) in the Time of AIDS’
MUMBAI, India, 31 January 2008 – ‘Love (and Babies) in the Time of AIDS: A Journey to India’ is a remarkable documentary that follows HIV/AIDS activist Thembi Ngubane, 23, as she travels from her humble home in Khayelitsha, South Africa to the bustling centre of Bollywood in Mumbai, India.
Long-term plans to improve education in post-tsunami Tamil Nadu
TAMIL NADU, India, December 2007 – Education is the central focus of UNICEF’s work to rebuild the lives of children in Tamil Nadu.
Cricketers help immunize children against polio in New Delhi
NEW DELHI, India, 10 December 2007 – Children in India are being immunized as part of an ongoing regional polio eradication campaign called Bowl Out Polio. Recently in New Dehli, children received a welcome surprise as top players from India and Pakistan’s cricket teams joined with health workers to bring attention to the campaign.
‘Red Ribbon Express’ rides the rails to raise youth AIDS awareness in India
NEW DELHI, India, 3 December 2007 – The Railway Age dawned in India in 1853, with the first train to run from Bombay to Thana, a distance of 21 miles. Over 150 years later, the extensive Indian railway network covering almost 70,000 miles is transporting more than passengers and cargo across the continent. Now it is also a vital conduit for raising AIDS awareness.
Indian cricketers help spread the message to ‘Bowl Out Polio’
UTTAR PRADESH, India, 14 November 2007 – After a recent one-day cricket match between India and Pakistan, victorious Indian cricketeer R.P. Singh received a special award from the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Sushri Mayawati. Before accepting the highly anticipated award, however, Mr. Singh presented Ms. Mayawati with a cricket bat signed by all the players of his team, as part of the ‘Bowl Out Polio’ campaign.
Changing attitudes about malnutrition and gender equality in India
KOLARAS, India, 30 October 2007 – When nine-month-old twins Devki and Rahul were brought by their mother to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre in Kolaras, Rahul was a normal weight and size for his age, yet his sister Devki weighed just over half of what she should have. Devki’s condition was the result of severe malnutrition.
Offering mothers a safe environment for giving birth in flood-affected Bihar State
BIHAR, India, 24 October 2007 – Sita Devi was the first woman to give birth at the newly established facility known as the ‘maternity hut’ at the Bargamaghachi camp in Samastipur. For over a month, Bargamaghachi has been home to more than 600 families from six villages as they wait for the floodwaters to recede so they can return to their homes.
Rebuilding lives in marginalized communities of flood-affected Bihar
BIHAR, India, 19 September 2007 – In the remote village of Sarainyan, near the border of Nepal, the floods that came with this year’s monsoons destroyed homes and displaced many familes.
Combating acute malnutrition in flood survivors
BIHAR, India, 17 September 2007 – It is more than a month after the flooding began in Bihar, but millions of people continue to be affected. Food being distributed by the Government is often delayed because roads are still submerged or completely washed away.
Cricket chief Malcolm Speed meets Indian children living with HIV
NEW DELHI, India, 29 August 2007 – Malcolm Speed, the head of the International Cricket Council (ICC), met today with a group of Indian children living with HIV as part of an ongoing partnership to promote the global campaign, Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS.
Women and children bear the brunt of flood effects in Bihar
BIHAR, India, 23 August 2007 – Three days after giving birth to her son, Subhagi Devi, 30, had to make a midnight escape from the floods that have submerged her village in East Champaran, Bihar state.
Mobile medical camps treat children and families displaced by floods in Bihar
BIHAR, India, 16 August 2007 – At a UNICEF medical camp, Kusum, 4, has been vaccinated against measles as a part of the effort to save lives after the recent monsoon floods here.
UNICEF galvanizes partners for flood relief to children and families in Uttar Pradesh
SILAUTA VILLAGE, Uttar Pradesh, India, 15 August 2007 – It is a wet August morning and Kishori, 4, is playing with her friends on a narrow, kilometre-long embankment.
‘Breast crawl’ phenomenon benefits mothers and newborns
NANDURBAR, India – 8 August, 2007 – Early breastfeeding is a simple, natural way to ensure that a baby gets proper nutrition. But many women are not aware of the special value of breastfeeding. For them, it is often a struggle to breastfeed.
More aid needed for tens of millions affected by severe monsoon floods in India
NEW YORK, USA, 6 August 2007 – For the past two weeks, South Asia has seen some of the worst monsoon flooding in living memory. Across northern India, Bangladesh and Nepal, villages have been completely marooned, leaving tens of millions displaced and stranded.
18,000 villages across Gujarat celebrate a massive school enrolment drive
GUJARAT, India, 25 July 2007 - Drums were beating, village women donned their finest saris and the streets were decorated with flowers. It was a big day in the life of Kirti Utana - the five-year old daughter of illiterate parents in the tribal village of Siddumbar was going to school.
Preparation and quick action save flood victims in Orissa
ORISSA, India, 18 July 2007 – Seeta and six-week-old daughter Badhia are among the many families who recently lost their homes after incessant rains resulted in heavy flooding in Orissa and neighbouring states. For a week, Seeta and Badhia lived outside and drank floodwater before finally taking shelter in a local primary school.
Making every child count in the streets of Kolkata, India
KOLKATA, India, 22 June 2007 – In a unique initiative to protect street children from exploitation and ensure their rights, birth certificates were awarded to 50,000 youths from underprivileged neighbourhoods at a glittering ceremony in Kolkata this week.
Young peer educators raise awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention in Gujarat youth
GUJARAT, India, 12 June 2007 – The western state of Gujarat, a border area with a fairly high number of migrant labourers, is well known for its rapid economic development and ranks among India’s ‘medium prevalence’ states with regard to HIV.
Volunteers and helpline join forces to reduce maternal mortality in rural India
NEW YORK, USA, 29 May 2007 – A rigid social structure and gender inequality – which stretches from educational opportunities to health-care access and more – can be a deadly combination for women living in the villages of rural India.
Children set-up their own school in an Indian village, defying caste barriers
JAMALPUR, India, 16 May 2007 – The steep, narrow path leads you to an enclosure covered by a thatched roof. The floor has been plastered with clay and the walls are built on columns of tree trunks.
‘Girl Stars’ reach out to rural India through films on the power of education
NEW YORK, USA, 9 May 2007 – Starting this week, three colourful trucks will take 15 short films on a road show to 180 villages across three states in India, encouraging a positive dialog with communities on the benefits of girls’ education.
In India, a young woman follows her heart and breaks barriers
NEW YORK, USA, 30 April 2007 – In a field of buzzing bees a young woman tends to the boxes where they swarm, protecting the honey. She is Anita Khushwaha, the first female beekeeper in the rural Indian village of Bochaha.
In India, ‘Girl Stars’ show that determination and education are keys to success
NEW YORK, USA, 26 January 2007 – Laxmirani Majhi, 17, also known as Laxmi, is an international-level archer and a student at the Tata Sports Academy in Jamshedpur, India. Laxmi is also one on India’s ‘Girl Stars’, young women who are breaking away from socio-economic discrimination to achieve success.
Global Task Force aims to provide all children with safe water and sanitation
NEW YORK, USA, 22 January 2007 – Cherie Blair met youth delegates from India and Nigeria at UNICEF headquarters today to help start a global initiative to ensure that children everywhere have access to safe water and sanitation.
In southern India, children’s centres play vital role in tsunami recovery
SINGARATHOPPU, India, December 2006 - As parents arrive and deliver their sons and daughters, the babble of young voices builds and the simple concrete building is filled with a lively gathering of pre-school children.
Goodwill Ambassador Roger Federer sees tsunami recovery progress in Tamil Nadu
CUDDALORE, India, 22 December 2006 – Just days before the second anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, tennis great and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Roger Federer visited Tamil Nadu, India, witnessing firsthand the progress made to help tsunami-affected communities ‘build back better’.
Sanitation and hygiene improve in post-tsunami rural Indian communities
THAEZANGUADA, India, December 2006 – Stepping carefully between puddles left by the latest monsoon, Jeeva moves from one house to the next on an important mission: ensuring that her neighbours know how to use their new toilets.
UNICEF-supported film voted BBC World ‘Best Documentary’
NEW YORK, USA, 12 December 2006 – A film about Biru Malik, a nine-year-old boy who spends his days preparing funeral pyres on the banks of the Ganges in India, is the winner of the BBC World viewers’ poll for the Best Documentary of 2006.
Sonia Gandhi and Bill Clinton launch AIDS programme for children
NEW DELHI, India, 30 November 2006 – On the eve of World AIDS Day, former US President Bill Clinton and Sonia Gandhi, one of India’s leading politicians, launched India’s first National Paediatric Programme on HIV and AIDS.
New resources and peer education benefit communities recovering from the tsunami
TAMIL NADU, India, December 2006 – During a break in class, six-year-old Raja talks about the different lessons and activities that make up a day at his elementary school in Kannarapatti. “Tamil is my favourite lesson,” he says.
For a young married girl in India, education is a dream come true
BIHAR, India, 13 November, 2006 – When Buna Devi, 18, walks to the learning centre in her village in the Patna District of India’s Bihar State, she says she hears her neighbours whispering, “Look at that old woman with two children – she is going to study now, at her age!”
South African cricketers instil hope in the lives of Indian children affected by HIV
AHMEDABAD, India, 27 October 2006 – South African cricket players Shaun Pollock, AB De Villiers, Andrew Hall and Jonty Rohdes recently visited India – not to play cricket games, but to spend time with children affected by HIV.
Torrential rains in the desert continue to cause havoc in flood-affected Rajasthan
RAJASTHAN, India, 1 September 2006 – The Thar desert of Rajasthan has been hit with devastating flash floods following 100 hours of torrential rains. The rains, which are typical at this time of year, have been wreaking havoc across India’s northern and western states.
Monsoon floods cause widespread damage, affecting millions in India
BHUBANESWAR, India, 15 August 2006 – Lying on the floor of a congested relief camp, women and children wait anxiously for the return of their loved ones. Among them is Pratima Biswal, 32, whose husband Saroj went missing while trying to escape from the raging floodwaters.
Enrolment drive sends almost 600,000 girls and boys to school in Gujarat, India
GUJARAT, India, 30 June 2006 – Every one of Gujarat State’s 18,000 villages was celebrating on 17 June, the start of a three-day, statewide enrolment drive that ultimately placed 593,863 children in school. Nearly half of these new students are girls.
In India, UNICEF Executive Board members take pulse of progress toward MDGs
NEW DELHI, India, 25 May 2006 – Richa Devi, 11, is used to teaching the younger children in her school how to wash their hands properly. This week she had a new student, UNICEF Executive Board President Andrei Dapkiunas.
Photography workshop gives new perspectives to children in New Delhi
NEW DELHI, India, 18 May 2006 – A UNICEF-sponsored photography workshop has given its young participants from Amar Jyoti School in New Delhi a new perspective on people close to them.
Former child labourers from India share their stories with UNICEF
NEW YORK, USA, 2 May 2006 – Two former child labourers from India met and shared their life stories with UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman and Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah during a tour to help raise awareness about the plight of children in servitude worldwide. The boys – Puran Banjara, 14, and his friend Samsur Mohamad, 13 – came to the United States last week as part of a visit coordinated by the Global March Against Child Labour.
‘Going local’: To improve child nutrition in India, UNICEF begins with mothers
BAGDOLEY VILLAGE, India, April 2006 – Little Tasmina Khatuni is the centre of attention in her village in West Bengal, India. With chubby hands, large kohl-rimmed eyes and plump cheeks, the 18-month-old child is the darling and envy of her neighbours. Children want to kiss her and play with her, and other mothers wonder what makes her more lively and healthy than their own, because the girl’s family is as poor as they are.
UNICEF unveils new tool to combat maternal mortality in India
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 6 April 2006 – In this country where a woman dies in childbirth every five minutes, UNICEF is unveiling a new method to save mothers’ lives: the Maternal and Perinatal Death Inquiries method, or MAPEDI.
New Delhi alternative learning centre gets a visit from Queen Rania of Jordan
NEW DELHI, India, 13 March, 2006 – Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan visited children at the Ritinjali Learning Centre in South Delhi on Friday, the first day of her two-day trip to India. Ritinjali is one of over 3,000 alternative schools in India dedicated to teaching out-of-school children while reintegrating them into the formal education system.
UN Independent Expert calls for ‘zero tolerance for violence against children’
NEW DELHI, India, 20 February 2006 – Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, the UN Secretary General’s Independent Expert on violence against children, says India can play a leading role in supporting the recommendations of the forthcoming global Study on the issue.
Reaching out to India’s poorest: Sister Sudha awarded government distinction
JAMSAUT, Bihar, India, 6 February 2006 – Girls from the Musahar community in the village of Jamsaut are studying at their local school. What looks like a perfectly normal classroom scene makes for an unusual sight here, as these girls belong to one of the most destitute and marginalised groups in Bihar – India’s poorest state.
Micro-planning improves children’s lives in rural India
BANGALORE, India, 5 January 2006 – Twelve-year-old Suguna sits with the rest of her classmates under a tree in the village of Irudalam. The soft rhythmic chant of their voices mingles with that of their teacher, drifting across the simple stone and mud houses of this traditional community. Suguna’s class is a ‘bridge course’, designed to keep up the studies of children who have dropped out of school – with the hope of getting them back into formal education later.
India: Water, malaria and nutrition are key issues in Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ recovery
CAR NICOBAR ISLAND, India, December 2005 – “UNICEF came to Andaman and Nicobar right after the tsunami, extremely anxious that no disease epidemic should strike the islands. So we started a prevention measles programme along with vitamin A supplementation." says UNICEF Programme Coordinator Subash Misra.
India: Water and sanitation are keys to recovery on Andaman and Nicobar Islands
CAR NICOBAR, India, December 2005 – Car Nicobar, in India’s remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was devastated by the tsunami; 12 months later half of the island is still submerged. Water and sanitation has been a key part of the recovery effort.
Keeping children healthy in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 1 year after the tsunami
CAR NICOBAR, India, December 2005 – One year after the tsunami struck the Andaman and Nicobar Islands off the coast of India, killing about 3,500 people – one third of them children – 46,000 people here are still living in temporary shelters. Nutritional supplementation and disease prevention measures have helped keep children healthy; work is proceeding to restore essential services.
India: Education offers a second chance
GAYA, India, December 2005 – Instructing from the front of the karate class, Guriya Khatun’s performance is commanding. She strikes a posture, then with a shout goes through a series of punches and kicks which her students follow. Her authority, combined with her deadly serious demeanour, make it easy to forget that Guriya is only 14 years old.
Rajasthan welcomes UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman
JAIPUR/NEW DELHI, India, 12 December 2005 – In terms of social development, it is one of the most backward corners of rural India, but there was certainly nothing held back in the warmth of the welcome. Hundreds of villagers in the remote district of Tonk in Rajasthan turned out to greet UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman at the end of her week-long trip to India.
Film star Sharmila Tagore inducted as Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF India
NEW DELHI, India, 8 December 2005 – Sharmila Tagore, one of India’s best-known and well-loved film stars, has signed on as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF India in a move to help the fight against HIV/AIDS in the country.
Vaccines key to saving children's lives
NEW DELHI, India, 7-8 December 2005 – The world’s foremost experts in public health, vaccine manufacturers and policy makers have gathered in New Delhi 7-8 December for the 3rd Partners' Meeting of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, or GAVI.
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Sir Roger Moore promotes salt iodization in India
JAIPUR, India, 18 November 2005 - UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Sir Roger Moore, accompanied by his wife, Lady Moore, arrived in Jaipur on Thursday, 17 November for a visit focused on promoting the use of iodized salt.
India: Young volunteer fights stigma to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS
Raguwaran is 17 and lives in a village in India’s Tamil Nadu state. Ten years ago his father died of AIDS. His mother is HIV-positive. Having faced stigma and discrimination as a result, Raguwaran became motivated to help others.
India launches UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS
NEW DELHI, India, 25 October 2005 – Indian President Abdul Kalam launched UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS in New Delhi today. President Kalam read a poem and talked with children about issues related to HIV/AIDS, including discrimination.
Vaccine is key to preventing outbreaks of Japanese encephalitis
NEW YORK, 5 October 2005 – In the crowded children’s ward of a hospital in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, Ram Kumar desperately tries to revive his son Sagar, who is very sick. Doctors watch, knowing they have already done what they can to help the young boy, whose father brought him here after a three-day journey by oxcart.
UNICEF-IPU child protection guide now available in Hindi
NEW DELHI, 3 October 2005 – A Hindi translation of the joint UNICEF/Inter-Parliamentary Union publication ‘Child Protection: A Handbook for Parliamentarians’ is now available in India.
Polio immunization campaign to protect 20 million children in India
DEOGARH, India, 20 September 2005 – Beginning on Sunday, nearly 100,000 vaccinators will immunize more than 20 million children against polio in Bihar state – one of two states in India where polio remains endemic.
Emergency plan saves lives during floods
TARDI, Bihar State, India, 14 Sept 2005 – Chhanjay, Ravi Ram and Lahki Chand are children with much to be thankful for, even though they recently had to flee their village homes in boats to escape a flood. Thanks to a new emergency plan, their communities were ready to provide them and others affected by the flood with shelter, proper sanitation and clean water to keep them healthy.
India: Puppets help heal children
TAMIL NADU, India, 7 September 2005 - In the drabness of a temporary camp for tsunami survivors, the brightly coloured puppet show is an instant hit with the children – and a welcome relief from the misery of the monsoon season.
Students in India learn life skills for preventing HIV/AIDS
MUMBAI, India, 26 August 2005 – In the classroom at Bombay Scottish School in Mumbai, the children sing with a passion and maturity, far beyond their teenage years. For they know they are enrolled on a course that might one day save their lives.
Tsunami healing through song and dance
TAMIL NADU, India, 19 August 2005 – In tsunami-affected Tamil Nadu province, a UNICEF-supported programme for psychosocial recovery is giving children a chance to have fun and spread joy, by performing on stage with professional theatre companies.
Young volunteers help fight disease in flood-affected Mumbai
MUMBAI, 15 August 2005 – Following the heavy flooding that recently hit Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra state in India, UNICEF is working with teams of student volunteers from local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in order to help prevent the spread of communicable diseases.
India: UNICEF provides mobile medical teams to flood-hit Mumbai
MUMBAI, India, 5 August 2005 – Nine-year-old Pratimesh Shirke was lucky to escape when his home was flooded by up to three metres of water. While fleeing from the floods he cut his temple, a relatively minor wound but one that could easily become infected if not treated properly.
India: Severe floods continue in Maharashtra
NEW YORK, 1 August 2005 – Ongoing flooding has disrupted the lives of more than 20 million people in India’s Maharashtra State, as heavy rains once again pounded Mumbai, the country’s financial hub.
India: Severe floods hit Maharashtra State
29 July 2005 – Prolonged heavy rains in India’s Maharashtra State have caused severe flooding. Earlier this week, floodwaters paralyzed the city of Mumbai, leaving thousands injured or stranded. Across the state 513 deaths have been reported so far; the actual number may be higher.
‘Enrolment festivals’ in 18,000 villages bring children into school
NILOSHI VILLAGE, Gujarat State, India, 17 June 2005 - Under a scorching summer sun in this remote village, children and parents are celebrating today. Their excitement comes from a school enrolment drive that seeks to reach all of the village’s children aged 5-14.
Heavy flooding forces thousands to flee in Madhya Pradesh
MADHYA PRADESH, India, 12 July 2005 – Heavy flooding caused by torrential rainfall has struck the eastern region of India’s Madhya Pradesh state, forcing thousands to flee their homes. Children and families are taking refuge in relief centres and temporary camps. Emergency supplies have already arrived on the scene.
India: Ban on production and sale of non-iodized salt will protect children
NEW DELHI, 24 June 2005 – In a move to protect the 25 million children born in India each year from brain damage and irreparable physical harm, the Government of India has reinstated a ban on the production and sale of non-iodized salt for human consumption.
India: Tide turns for immunization in Uttar Pradesh
UTTAR PRADESH, India, 28 June 2005 - Until a few months ago, vaccinations in villages in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh meant painful jabs and unpleasant memories, as syringes often had to be sterilized and reused, dulling their tips. As these blunt-pointed syringes pierced delicate children’s skin, many mothers did not have the heart to subject them to vaccination again.
Boost for HIV/AIDS education in India
NEW DELHI, 24 June 2005 – India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development and the country’s National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) are collaborating with UNICEF to scale up programmes for educating adolescents about HIV/AIDS.
India: Volunteers put smiles back on young faces
CHENNAI, Tamil Nadu, India, 23 June 2005 - O.K. Swami, 20, is studying for a BA in Literature. This summer break, he is back in his home village, Melamanakudy, volunteering to help young tsunami victims cope with lingering trauma caused by the loss of homes, family members or friends.
India: Food and fun help tsunami children thrive again
TAMIL NADU, India, 21 June 2005 - Many young tsunami survivors in Tamil Nadu are beginning to smile again as they prevail in the battle against malnourishment and physical and psychological trauma.
India: ‘First Captain’ helps tsunami recovery effort
CAR NICOBAR, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, 21 June 2005 – When the tsunami struck Ireena Mark’s village of Small Lapathy, on this tiny, idyllic island, she knew what to do.
India: ‘Link volunteers’ connect communities to hygiene
TAMIL NADU, India, June 2005 – Tsunami survivors clad in blue UNICEF t-shirts are helping other survivors maintain sanitation and a clean environment in their temporary homes.
Immunization: Reaching children by rail
INDIA, June 6, 2005 – The search for unvaccinated children in India has taken UNICEF to bus stations, railway platforms and busy street corners. Now children are receiving polio vaccinations on passenger trains as they speed across the plains of the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In mid-May, on just one route, nearly 8,000 children under five years received vaccinations during a five-day immunization drive – over 1,500 on the first day alone.
India: Young people key to HIV prevention
NEW YORK, 6 June 2005 – India intends to tackle HIV/AIDS head on - with children and young people as partners - the country’s Minister for Health and Family Welfare said in an interview in New York on Thursday.
India: Project helps child labourers return to school
DHARMAPURI DISTRICT, Tamil Nadu, India, 26 May 2005 – Their young hands should have held pencils and crayons. Instead, they touched deadly chemicals in matchbox factories, handled worms in silk farms, or were scalded by hot tea while serving customers in tea stalls. Instead of going to school, these child labourers lost precious months or years of their childhood earning paltry wages to support their families.
India: Young tsunami survivors volunteer at day care centres
CHINNURPUDUPETTAI, India, 9 May 2005 – A casual observer watching 17-year-old Sonia Chinnaiyan smiling and working with toddlers at the Aanganwadi Day Care Centre in this village in Tamil Nadu, India, would never guess that her mother lost her life in the tsunami of 26 December 2004.
UNICEF signs on India superstar Amitabh Bachchan to help children
NEW YORK, 15 April 2005 – Last night UNICEF welcomed acclaimed Indian film star Amitabh Bachchan to its ranks of international Goodwill Ambassadors in a formal signing event with Executive Director Carol Bellamy.
Indian girls demand equal access to education
NEW DELHI, India, 11 April 2005 – Girls in India are demanding greater, sustained support for equal access to a good education. At a workshop organised by UNICEF in the Indian capital New Delhi on 7 April a group of around fifty girls from seven Indian states came together to discuss and share their experiences of schooling.
Bellamy bats for health in India on World Health Day
NEW DELHI, 8 April 2005 – On her trip to India during the first week of April, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy helped launch a campaign to raise HIV/AIDS awareness through sport; spoke at the launch of the World Health report on World Health Day; and met with children from rural areas and from the tsunami-affected Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
India forms coalition to address the needs of children with HIV/AIDS
NEW DELHI, 5 April 2005 - India’s National Department of Women and Child Development, along with the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), have announced the formation of a high-level national coalition to push for greater prioritisation of HIV/AIDS.
Empowering girls through education in India
New York, 4 April 2005 – The state of Bihar, India's poorest, is home to nearly 90 million people. Half of them live in conditions of extreme poverty. Key development indicators, such as those related to public health or literacy, are among the lowest in the nation.
Caring for children hit hard by the tsunami
SIRUTHUR VILLAGE, India, 30 March 2005 - Three-year-old Nandini is barely able to speak, but the sadness in her eyes tells a tragic tale.
Schools on the front line of the fight against iodine deficiency
TIRUNELVELI, India, 28 March 2005 - Vennila, a 5th grader in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district, watches a plate of salt she has brought from home with intent concentration. The headmaster of her school also watches with concern, hoping for her sake that the sample will change colour, to purple. However, sadly for Vennila, the salt remains obstinately white.
Traumatized children at risk for infection
TAMIL NADU, India, 21 March 2005 - Sahai Radhika has her eyes wide open, but she is not talking. The 12-year old girl lies in the lap of her father Krishtarajan and looks away when you try to talk to her.
Quick tsunami response prevented water-borne epidemics
NEW DELHI, India, 17 March 2005 - Shortly after the tsunami struck countries on the Indian Ocean and killed hundreds of thousands, the World Health Organization issued a grim warning that water-borne diseases could double the death toll. But three months after the tragedy, no epidemics of diarrhoea, cholera or measles have been reported in Tamil Nadu, Andaman, or the Nicobar Islands - the most severely affected regions of India.
Vaccination campaign focuses on tackling social resistance to vaccine
UTTAR PRADESH, India, 6 January 2005 - With its density of population, areas of severe poverty and varied cultures, western Uttar Pradesh is where the campaign to eradicate polio is at greatest risk of failure.
INDIA: UNICEF toys help tsunami survivors play again
NAGAPATTINAM, India, 24 February 2005 – Children in the Nagapattinam area of India who survived the tsunami are receiving support in coping with lingering trauma and stress, through play. As a part of the ongoing recovery process, the Indian government, supported by UNICEF, has equipped each of the 73 relief centres in this area with its own dedicated play area.
Keeping India’s tsunami survivors healthy
NAGAPATTINAM, India, 31 January 2005 - For tsunami survivors along the coast of India, the path to recovery is slow and fraught with obstacles. In Nagapattinam, tens of thousands of people are still living in temporary relief centres.
Girls celebrated for determination to stay in school
MAHARASHTRA, India, 8 February 2005 - Communities in Maharashtra, in the western and central parts of India, are coming together to give special recognition to girls who manage to stay in school against all odds.
Children eager to return to schools in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
PORT BLAIR, India, 7 February 2005 - It is lunch time and the fragrance of cooked food is infusing the air with a sense of expectancy. People seem to have settled into camp life as uncomfortable as it is. In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, food, water and sanitation were the primary concerns for survival; education did not figure as a priority. Now it is back at the forefront of parents’ and teachers’ minds.
Amitabh Bachchan appeals for relief to tsunami survivors
NEW YORK, 13 January 2005 – Amitabh Bachchan, popular star of Indian cinema and recently appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, appealed last week for relief to tsunami survivors. Mr. Bachchan spoke passionately of the world’s collective duty to the children who are the youngest and most vulnerable of the survivors.
UNICEF provides clean drinking water for 200 relief camps
NAGAPATTINAM, India, 9 January 2005 – Clean drinking water is the key to survival for hundreds of children and their families seeking refuge in crowded relief camps in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu. To prevent waterborne disease such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery - all caused by drinking contaminated water - UNICEF has set up water tanks, providing safe drinking water for the survivors.
Oral rehydration salts save lives in Tamil Nadu
TAMIL NADU, India, 7 January 2005 - After the tsunamis ripped apart families and homes in the Nagapattinam and other districts of Tamil Nadu, UNICEF has been working to prevent outbreaks of diarrhoea among the thousands of now homeless children and their families.
Immunizing children against measles
NAGAPATTINAM, India, 5 January 2005 – Children in the worst affected areas in India are undergoing urgent immunization to prevent the spread of deadly diseases. UNICEF says that protecting children against measles in eight affected districts of Tamil Nadu is a top priority.
UNICEF doctors reach pregnant women in relief camps
TAMIL NADU, India, 5 January 2005 - Like many people in her village in Pattinacheery, Radhika, 20 began running when she heard a threatening rumble from the sea.
UNICEF supplies water to parched relief camps
NAGAPATTINAM, Tamil Nadu, India, 1 January 2005 - Two truckloads of water tanks provided by UNICEF were driven into the tsunami wrecked district of Nagapattinam, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Supplying clean drinking water to hundreds of women and children who are crowded in relief camps is a crucial task, as water sources have already been polluted by piles of garbage nearby.
UNICEF begins building toilets in relief camps in India
NAGARCOIL, India, 30 December 2004 - The Kanyakumari district administration and UNICEF are installing toilets in 19 of the relief camps where around 16,000 people displaced by this week’s tsunami are currently living.
Tsunami survivors flood camps in India
NEW DELHI, India, 29 December 2004 –UNICEF is sending emergency items and staff to various relief camps and hospitals in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Eye-witness accounts of the disaster in India
CHENNAI, India, 28 December 2004 - The south of India has been gravely impacted by this weekend’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting deadly tsunamis, which have left nine south Asian countries in chaos and ruin.
Young people join the fight against HIV/AIDS
NEW DELHI, 26 November 2004 - A two-day Special Session of National Students and Youth Parliament on HIV and AIDS was held in New Delhi on 6-7 November 2004. This first-of-its-kind event helped empower young people to play a role in combating the HIV and AIDS. As a result of the meeting, over 3,000 young people will be chosen as ‘ambassadors’ to disseminate information about HIV and AIDS throughout India.
Schooling sputtering to a start in flood-affected districts of Bihar
Bihar State, India, 27, September – In the primary school of the village of Olipur, there is a couplet written on a wall. The words describe the terrible floods that wreaked havoc on countries in South Asia earlier this summer. It reads: “Baadh chali aati har saal/Jeevan kar deti badhaal” (Floods visit us every year and leave life in disarray).
Football spurs girls’ education in West Bengal
NEW DELHI, India, 1 September 2004 – FIFA, the international football governing body, is donating 65 sports-in-a-box kits to the UNICEF West Bengal office to help support girls’ education and their right to play. Girls in most villages have hardly ever participated in outdoor sports; they will now have the opportunity to form teams and play football regularly.
UNICEF office in India launches new website
26 August 2004 – The brand new UNICEF India website, created and produced in India by UNICEF staff, is now online.
Aftermath of the floods in Assam
ASSAM, 13 August 2004 – Life is not easy for people in the flood-devastated state of Assam. Hundreds of families continue to live in cramped quarters on embankments, even as the water levels have receded.
New UNICEF video highlights flood crisis in India
ASSAM/BIHAR, India, 27 July 2004 – Nearly 30 million people have been affected by the severe floods in the Indian states of Assam and Bihar. Some 550 people have lost their lives.
Rising floodwaters force millions to flee in the dead of night
MORIGAON, Assam, India, 22 July 2004 – With floodwaters rising around her feet, Padumi Medhi shook her children out of bed and rushed them out into the night in search of safety.
Severe flooding in South Asia leaves children and families stranded
DARBHANGA, Bihar State, India, 20 July 2004 – Munni Devi, mother of five children, has been doing something she had never done before: She has been holding an umbrella for the past three days almost without a break.
Using peer education to combat HIV/AIDS in India
MUMBAI, India, 12 July 2004 – On an overcast monsoon morning, students, performers, municipal officers and humanitarian aid workers are focusing their attention on the subject of HIV/AIDS.
Campaign launched to promote girls’ education in Gujarat, India
NEW DELHI, India, 22 June 2004 – Around 26 per cent of India’s girls between the ages of 6 to 14 are not in school. The western state of Gujarat, which has a population comparable to that of Ukraine, accounts for a large proportion of this percentage with more than 40 per cent of its women being illiterate.
Building health and hope for soon-to-be mothers in rural India
When 26-year-old Shanta went to the health centre for a regular prenatal check up, no one took notice of the puffiness on her face and arms. Later on she developed serious complications. By the time she got to the nearest hospital, it was too late; she died giving birth to twins, and her children died fifteen days later. The puffiness on her face and arms was a sign of high blood pressure, which can be life-threatening during pregnancy.
Cricket star pitches in on India's "Polio Sunday"
KARNATAKA, 9 May 2004—India’s fourth “Polio Sunday,” which aims to immunize all children under age five in three of India’s states, has received warm support from a star of India’s cricket team.Anil Kumble, India’s famous spin bowler, visited a polio vaccination outreach booth in his home city of Bangalore. There he immunized many children, including a one-day-old child, with the polio vaccine popularly known as the "two drops of life".
Tsunami stories from India
Official updates
Children and the Tsunami, A Year On:
A Draft UNICEF Summary of What Worked [PDF]
