Press Centre
Media Advisory
UNICEF Executive Director visits drought-stricken southern Africa
before attending the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
Who: Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, UNICEF
What: Travels to Malawi and Zambia to focus on the humanitarian
crisis which has put more than 6 million children at risk, in southern
Africa. Millions of people are living on the very edge of survival
as the region struggles with drought and massive harvest failures.
Ms. Bellamy's trip will highlight what is being done, and what has
yet to be done, to save the lives of millions of children today and
to invest in the lives of millions more children in the coming years.
Where:
Malawi - from Sunday August 18th to Tuesday August 20th
Kenya -- from Wednesday Aug. 21st to Saturday Aug. 24th
Zambia - from Sunday August 25th to Tuesday August 27th
South Africa - from Thursday Aug. 29th to September 2nd
Background: As world leaders and thousands of delegates gather
to discuss key issues at the World Summit on Sustainable Development
in Johannesburg, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in six countries
neighbouring South Africa. The lives of more than six million children
are at immediate risk in Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique
due to a crippling combination of drought, hunger, illness and HIV/AIDS.
Ms. Bellamy's visits to the region and at the summit will underline
the urgent and immediate needs of millions of children today. Her
trip will also focus on why investing in children is a key to sustainable
development and how investing in children is among the most farsighted
decisions world leaders can make to assure sustainable development.
* * *
For further information and interviews, please contact:
Wivina Belmonte,
UNICEF Spokesperson,
wbelmonte@unicef.org,
Mobile Johannesburg: +27-82-858 1535
Mobile Geneva: +41 79 502 0261
Madeline Eisner,
UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, meisner@unicef.org,
Mobile Johannesburg: +27-82-858-1536
Mobile Nairobi: +25 472 520 595
Karuna Nundy, UNICEF Media New
York, knundy@unicef.org,
tel: (212) 303 7941
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