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News Note

UNICEF Appeal: Reaching the vulnerable

New York, 11 February 2002, The United Nations Children's Fund today appealed to donors to reach even more deeply into their pockets to help the most vulnerable: children and women in countries in crisis.

The urgent needs of 30 countries and regions are outlined in the UNICEF 2002 appeal document on humanitarian action presented today in New York.

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy acknowledged the outpouring of generosity for Afghanistan, where a massive measles and polio drive has been undertaken, where 1.5 million children are soon to return to school, and where a commitment to life-saving humanitarian assistance continues to be made available. Ms. Bellamy went on to thank donors and call on them to "continue the same generosity to the vital work that is underway in the other countries and regions covered in the Humanitarian Action Report."

The report looks in detail at how UNICEF's work is undertaken, and how the needs of children and women in emergencies can best be met. This year's report points out that UNICEF is finding that resources are increasingly falling short of meeting the needs of the most vulnerable.

Discrepancies of great magnitude exist for children from some countries such as Angola, Somalia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Sudan and West Africa. Likewise, while support for food security is strong, non-food sectors such as education, protection, health, and water and sanitation struggle to keep up to minimum requirements.

A number of immediate goals have been identified:

• Meet the needs of internally displaced persons - half of whom are children
• Control and treatment of preventable diseases; polio, tuberculosis, measles, pertussis, cholera
  
• Step up efforts against malaria
  
• Landmine and unexploded ordinance awareness
• Education in emergencies