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Press CentreBriefing note7 April 2003: What UNICEF said at the UN briefingToday's convoy brings to more than 60, the number of trucks UNICEF has sent into Southern Iraq - each day with more supplies, each day further into the country. Briefing by Wivina Belmonte, UNICEF
Good Afternoon On this, World Health Day, one can only wonder what an 8 year old child in Baghdad might be imagining about the daily nightmare he or she is witnessing. That child is living in a home without electricity. A city where hospitals are reportedly taking in hundreds of casualties every hour. Where schools, and the idea of a normal routine have been suspended for days now, and where a night's sleep is interrupted by the sounds of shelling and gunfire. The pictures we see on our televisions, show us the most immediate, most stark images of children -- hurt and injured in the conflict. What is more difficult to show, but which has its own devastating impact is the lack of water, the poor and deteriorating health conditions, and the trauma each child is living. UNICEF is not only deeply concerned by this -- we are active -- on the ground in Southern Iraq on the ground in Northern Iraq, and with supplies in Baghdad, placed there before the conflict. Today, UNICEF sent a convoy of 11 trucks across the border in Kuwait to towns in Southern Iraq, including Basra, Safwan and Zubair. Each truck was carrying urgent supplies - thousands of litres of clean water and life-saving medical supplies, including Oral Rehydration Salts -- all destined for those who need them most. Today's convoy brings to more than 60, the number of trucks UNICEF has sent into Southern Iraq - each day with more supplies, each day further into the country. Clearly, we still need to reach many more children, in many more places. With each passing day, as the conflict continues, a humanitarian clock is ticking -- it's a question of access, it's a question of distribution, it's a question of time, and it's a question of the lives of Iraqi children.
For further information please contact us:. Geoffrey Keele, UNICEF Iraq:
gkeele@unicef.org For interviews in the region, write or call directly to the UNICEF NewsDesk in Amman: (962-79) 50422058 •
Broadcasters! |
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