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Central Asian cooperation vital for children

Her remarks were made at the Fifth Annual Summit Meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) in Amaty, Kazakhstan. The 10-member group consists of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Ms. Bellamy said that ECO and UNICEF have had a good record of cooperation, especially in immunization, control of iodine deficiency disorders and diarrhoeal diseases, promotion of breastfeeding, and other areas of child protection. She said the strength of the UNICEF-ECO partnership was reinforced by the ratification by all Member States of ECO of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

She addressed specific problems faced by ECO Member States, including threats to child and maternal health; the lack of access to quality basic education; and environmental perils ranging from nuclear waste to the scourge of anti-personnel mines. She noted that some of the region's most serious environmental problems were having a direct and terrible effect on child health and development. These include repercussions from the former Soviet nuclear test site in Semipalatinsk, whose radioactive contaminants are a source of enormous peril; and the ecological disaster area around the Aral Sea.

She also noted that in some ECO countries, there has been significant progress towards maintaining high standards of primary health care. Immunization coverage in all Central Asian states and Azerbaijan are high, she said, and efforts to reduce maternal mortality in some ECO member states are producing good results. Iran, for example, has made important inroads in curbing maternal deaths from complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Ms. Bellamy said that in Afghanistan, despite serious constraints, UNICEF has been working with its partners to increase immunization rates.

In a separate meeting Monday with the First Lady of Kazakhstan, Sara Nazarbaeva, she underlined how important it was that all national as well as international NGOs in the region participate in monitoring implementation of Convention of the Rights of the Child -- especially in assuring equal access to basic health services, education for women and girls and social protection of children.

Later, the First Lady and Executive Director inaugurated the new UNICEF Area Office for Kazakhstan and Central Asia. It had previously been situated in Islamabad.

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