Press
Centre
Press Release
Press Centre
Bellamy to Baghdad to see Iraqi children,
thank UNICEF staff
GENEVA / NEW YORK, 16 May 2003 – UNICEF Executive
Director Carol Bellamy will visit Iraq this weekend to
draw attention to the difficult situation of children.
Her three-day stay will encompass activities in Baghdad
and the north of the country.
“I want to thank the UNICEF national staff, who
stayed at work throughout the war to assist Iraqi children,”
Bellamy said Friday, one day prior to her arrival in Iraq.
“But I also want to focus attention on the plight
of children in this still very critical time. There’s
much more that needs to be done to improve the chances
of survival for children and to get this country pointed
in the right direction.”
UNICEF remains concerned about the impact of civil disorder
and looting throughout the country. In recent days UNICEF
has found water stations and supply warehouses depleted
of supplies and equipment, making it difficult to restore
social services on a consistent basis.
“I hope to meet with all the key players involved
in building an Iraq that is fit for children,” Bellamy
said. “ We need to focus ourselves on some basics:
education, water and health services, and the protection
of children.”
Since the end of the war, UNICEF has delivered thousands
of tons of supplies. These include emergency medical and
water supplies, as well as high-protein food for malnourished
children and medicines targeting serious outbreaks of
water-borne diseases among children. In the past three
weeks UNICEF tankers have supplied more than 20 million
litres of water to southern Iraq, repaired water treatment
plants, and supplied millions of dollars worth of water
treatment chemicals.
But Bellamy said that despite a swift response to the
emergency, much remains to be done.
“We are alarmed by the high numbers of children
being injured by munitions, and by anecdotal reports of
children who are reported to have disappeared. The faster
we get coherent education and health systems functioning
again, with paid staff, the less children will fall through
the cracks.”
She also noted that what she called “a perception
of potential violence” was causing as much damage
as the widely reported looting. “We know that many
women teachers and health workers are not going to work
because of reports of abductions that have been difficult
to verify. Many parents are withholding their children
– especially girls – from school, and those
same children are roaming into dangerous areas and being
injured by munitions. Those same perceptions can affect
humanitarian workers, who have families of their own.”
The UNICEF chief is expected to meet with Iraqi civil
servants, UN heads of agencies, and others.
UNICEF has issued a $165 million appeal for the children
of Iraq, of which about $75 million, or 45 per cent has
been received from donors.
***
UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions
of individuals, foundations, businesses, and governments.
Contributions to UNICEF's ongoing support for Iraq children
can be made at http://www.supportunicef.org/
For further information please contact us:.
Geoffrey Keele,
UNICEF Iraq (Amman), Mob.: (++88 – 2162 333 5948)
Rawhi Abeidoh,
UNICEF Newsdesk, (Amman), Mob.: (++962-79 504 2058)
Anis Salem, UNICEF
- Regional Office, Jordan, Mob.: (++962-79 557 9991)
Damien Personnaz,
UNICEF Media, Geneva: (++4122) 909-5517
Alfred Ironside,
UNICEF Media, New York: (++ 212) 326-7261
For interviews in the region, write or call directly
to the UNICEF NewsDesk in Amman:
(962-79) 50 422 058
iraqichild@unicef.org
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