Press Centre
June 2001 - January
2001
Adolescents everywhere have 'A Right to Know
The Facts' about HIV and AIDS
Tuesday, 26 June 2001 - Emphasizing that young people and the behaviours
they learn are the key to conquering HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Children's
Fund said today that young people have a right to know the facts about
HIV/AIDS so they can take responsibility for their lives and protect
themselves and others.
Harry Belafonte, just back from South Africa,
to join UN Special Session on AIDS
Friday, 22 June 2001 - UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Harry Belafonte, fresh
from a 10-day visit to South Africa to see first-hand the impact of
AIDS and the efforts to fight it, will take part in the UN Special Session
on HIV/AIDS next week.
UNICEF chief takes over as chair of GAVI Board
Friday , 22 June 2001 -- UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy became
chair of the world's leading alliance for childhood immunization today
at a board meeting in London. Assuming the leadership role of GAVI --
the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization -- on the final day
of the quarterly board session, Bellamy thanked her predecessor, Gro
Harlem Brundtland, Director General of the World Health Organization.
UNICEF commends Gates Foundation
for AIDS donation
Tuesday, 19 June 2001 -- UNICEF today commended the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation for contributing $100 million to the Global AIDS and
Health Fund. UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said: "The importance
of this very generous donation goes way beyond its dollar value, large
though that is. It is a recognition of the scale of the HIV/AIDS pandemic
that threatens individuals, families, countries and economies -- and
the need to build global and broad-based partnerships to address this
crisis."
UNICEF praises Winterthur
for AIDS Contribution
Thursday, 14 June 2001: UNICEF today praised Winterthur Insurance,
a Credit Suisse Group company, for its financial contribution of $1
million to the Global AIDS and Health Fund.
UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy called the gift - the first
by a private company - a "true display of leadership."
In India, quake survivors
return to school
Thursday, 14 June 2001: Less than 5 months after a devastating earthquake,
more than 400,000 children are going back to school for the first time
in Gujarat today. As the result of an unprecedented joint effort
by the Government of Gujarat and UNICEF, over 2,000 schools, fully equipped,
have re-opened.
'Say Yes' pledge campaign racking
up votes
Friday, 8 June 2001: With 15 weeks to go before world leaders
gather in New York for a summit devoted to children, a grassroots pledge
campaign is racking up millions of votes from citizens demanding that
world leaders do more for children and young people.
Another 150 child soldiers released
in Sierrra Leone
Monday, 4 June 200: UNICEF in Sierra Leone is encouraged by a further
release of children by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Today the
RUF released 150 children - 40 of them girls - in the eastern border
town of Kailahun, Sierra Leone.
UNICEF mourns Nkosi Johnson
Friday, 1 June 2001:Calling him a “courageous boy who moved a continent,”
the United Nations Children’s Fund today mourned the death of Nkosi
Johnson, the 12-year-old South African who helped break the silence
about HIV and AIDS.
Japan's donation bolsters final
push for polio eradication
Friday, 1 June 2001: The Japanese Government has greatly bolstered
the final effort to purge the world of polio by donating US$30 million
to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) announced today.
Some abducted children in Angola
released, but worry for others persists
Saturday, 26 May 2001: UNICEF Angola and the United Nations Humanitarian
Coordinator in Angola welcome the release of 60 Angolan children and
two adults who were abducted from the ADPP Children's Town near Caxito
on 5 May 2001.
UNICEF praises release today of child
soldiers in Sierra Leone
Friday, 25 May 2001: The head of UNICEF in Sierra Leone commended the
Revolutionary United Front (RUF) today for its release of 424 child
combatants and abductees in Makeni, Sierra Leone. Friday's release brings
the total number of children released by the RUF this month to 591.
UNICEF calls on leaders to protect
children from armed conflict and sexual abuse
Friday, 25 May 2001: Although today marks the first anniversary of a
crucial step for the protection of children's rights: the adoption by
the UN General Assembly of two Optional Protocols to the Convention
on the Rights of the Child - one addressing the protection of children
affected by armed conflict and the other, the protection of children
from sexual abuse and exploitation, UNICEF UNICEF is urging countries
that have already signed the protocols to ratify them as swiftly as
possible.
African leaders meet to map out future
agenda for children
Wednesday, 23 May 2001: The United Nations Children's Fund commends
the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) for its decision to hold a high-level
meeting to review the situation of Africa's children and develop recommendations
for ensuring the full realisation of their rights in the 21st century.
The Pan-African Forum on the Future of Children in Africa will adopt
a common African position on the needs of children for consideration
by the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children to
be held in New York during 19 - 21 September 2001.
Cease-fire needed in Afghanistan
for polio campaign to succeed
Wednesday, 23 May 2001: The next round in the fight against polio in
Afghanistan will be from 19 to 21 May. 5.7 million Afghan children need
to be vaccinated during the next National Immunisation Days (NIDs),
for which a cease-fire is crucial. Both sides had agreed with UNICEF
and WHO to respect a cease-fire during the polio immunisation campaigns
in 2000 and in March and April 2001. It is trusted that this will be
the case again. Every child from birth up to five years of age must
be vaccinated.
Berlin meeting pledges to create
a world fit for children
Wednesday, 16 May 2001: In the belief that every child, without exception,
should be assured the right to dignity, security and self-fulfillment,
delegates from 51 countries across Europe and Central Asia and the Holy
See, concluded an extraordinary meeting in Berlin today with a special
commitment to creating an environment fit for children in the region.
A new future mapped out
for children in East Asia and Pacific
Wednesday, 16 May 2001: Governments from across East Asia and the Pacific
committed themselves Wednesday to ensuring that the overall well-being
of children - "the most important indicator of national and economic
social progress" - is at the centre of national agendas.
93 million children represented in
youth opinion poll from Europe and Central Asia Wednesday, 16
May 2001: This extensive survey provides a fascinating portrait of the
views, concerns, hopes and dreams of children and adolescents from 26
States in transition in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS), the Baltic States and nine countries in
Western Europe. It also provides some disturbing insights into a world
children and young people see as marked by violence, injustice and discrimination.
Berlin meeting: Improving the lives
of children in Europe and Central Asia
Wednesday, 16 May 2001: In an unprecedented effort to improve the lives
of children in Europe and Central Asia, delegates from 52 European and
Central Asian countries, and the Holy See, gathered in Berlin today,
to forge a new agenda for the coming decade. The high-level meeting
is organized by the Governments of Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina
with the support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
World's poorest countries falling
behind developing world, says UNICEF report
Tuesday, 15 May 2001: The world's poorest countries slipped further
behind other developing nations during the 1990s, keeping hundreds of
millions - almost half of them children - mired in abject poverty, according
to a report released today by the United Nations Children's Fund.
UNICEF survey on AIDS reveals children
in East Asia and Pacific regions uninformed
Monday, 14 May 2001: Children and adolescents in East Asia and the Pacific
are generally optimistic about the future, but many appear woefully
unprepared to deal with the rapidly growing threat of HIV/AIDS in the
region, according to the results of a UNICEFsurvey of approximately
10,000 children.
UNICEF: Religious communities central
to improving children's lot
Monday, 14 May 2001: The world's religious communities must
assume a key role in promoting children's rights and taking action to
ensure that all of the world's children are able to achieve their full
potential, Religions for Peace (the World Conference on Religion and
Peace) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced today.
UNICEF announces May meetings in
Beijing, Berlin, Cairo and Kathmandu
Wednesday, 16 May 2001:The United Nations Children’s Fund today heralded
the start of a three-week period during which four regional meetings
on children and young people will take place, involving some 130 governments
and hundreds of other organizations in preparation for the Special Session
on Children to be held in New York in September 2001. The voices of
thousands of participating young people will infuse all four meetings
with unusual urgency and relevance
Sixty children abducted in
Angola must be returned, says UNICEF
Tuesday, 8 May 2001:UNICEF Angola and the United Nations Humanitarian
Coordinator in Angola were shocked and saddened by this past weekend's
mass abduction of 60 Angolan children during an attack by an armed group
near the town of Caxito, about 54 kms northeast of Luanda.
Mandela, Annan, Gates urge world
to Say Yes for Children
Thursday, 26 April 2001: An unprecedented global pledge campaign on
behalf of children, led by an impressive array of international personalities
including Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan and Bill Gates, begins today in
London and numerous other locations worldwide.
UN hails significant progress in
fight against malaria
Wednesday, 25 April 2001: In a move that promises to protect millions
of people from the danger of malaria, five African countries have recently
reduced or abolished taxes on insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) to
make them more affordable to their populations. They include: Ivory
Coast, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
UNICEF resumes humanitarian assistance for
children in Makeni, Sierra Leone
On Thursday, 19 April, a UNICEF team headed by Country Representative
JoAnna Van Gerpen distributed schools supplies and textbooks to approximately
1,000 students attending school in Makeni. UNICEF also supplied essential
drugs, vaccines and equipment for the revitalisation of 5 health clinics
serving 10-12,000 people in the Makeni area (Bombali District).
UN successfully negotiates ceasefire
in Afghanistan for polio immunization
Wednesay, 18 April 2001: Nearly 35,000 health workers and volunteers
will reach 5.7 million children under five in a countrywide polio vaccination
campaign from April 17 to 19.The two warring parties, the Taliban
and the Northern Alliance, have given written commitments to adhere
to the ceasefire. The agreement came after the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) officially requested
both sides to respect the cease-fire and inform frontline commanders
to remain committed to the agreement.
Bill Gates Senior
helps deliver life-saving vaccines to Mozambique
Friday, 6 April 2001: Bill Gates
Sr., Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, joined Carol
Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
and President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, at Boane District Health
Clinic, 45 kms from the capital city Maputo, to see infants being immunized
with DTP-hepB vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and
hepatitis B. The event marks the first round of a global schedule of
vaccine delivery, to Mozambique, the first to reach the African continent
by GAVI, the Global Alliance for
Vaccines and Immunization and the Global Fund for Children's Vacci.
Figures released showing polio nearly eliminated
Tuesday, 3 April 2001: The eradication of crippling poliomyelitis
is 99% complete according to figures released today by the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative. In 2000, there were no more than 3500 cases
of polio reported worldwide*, a 99% decrease from the 350 000 annual
cases estimated in 1988 when the Initiative was launched.
Sebastião Salgado named Special Representative
Tuesday, 3 April 2001: UNICEF announced today the appointment of internationally
renowned Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado as a Special
Representative. The announcement came at the opening in Brasilia of
Mr. Salgado's exhibition Exodus, also called Migrations, the result
of a seven-year project documenting the global displacement of people
due to economic hardship, conflict and natural disasters.
Two UN workers are freed, two others still
captive.
Friday, 30 March 2001: Pierre-Paul Lamotte, 34, a UNICEF logistician
from Belgium and Mohamed Mohamedi, 30, a World Health Organization(WHO)
operations officer - both working on polio eradication projects - arrived
in good health in the Kenyan capital Nairobi Friday afternoon. UN officials
are negotiating the release of the other two UN staffers and expressed
concern for the "safe and immediate release" for them.
New TV Award Puts Spotlight On Children
Monday, 2 April 2001: A special award to highlight a new initiative
called "Say Yes For Children" was announced today at MIP TV
2001 in Cannes by Roger Moore, Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF), Jacques Hintzy, President of the French Committee
for UNICEF, and Fred Cohen, President of The International Council of
the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).
UN Agencies launch new plan to halve measles
death rate
Thursday, 29 March 2001: In a concerted move against one of the
world's deadliest childhood diseases, the World Health Organization
(WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today announced
a new initiative designed to halve global measles deaths by 2005.
UNICEF: After 1997 financial crisis millions
"on the brink of survival" in Indonesia
Wednesday, 14 March 2001: Nearly four years after the onset of the 1997
Asian financial crisis, Indonesia continues to reel from a wide range
of social ills, according to a new report from UNICEF. The report, "Beyond
Krismon – the social legacy of Indonesia's financial crisis,"
says millions of Indonesians were pushed into poverty and millions of
children still suffer from malnourishment.
UNICEF expresses regret, outrage over school
explosion
Wednesday, March 7 2001: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
expresses deep regret and outrage over the deaths of at least 37 children,
who were killed by a massive explosion while allegedly assembling fireworks
at their primary school in China's Jiangxi province.
UNICEF: Child marriages must stop
Wednesday, 7 March 2001: Armed with statistics showing that half of
all girls in some countries are married by the time they reach age 18,
the United Nations Children's Fund called today for a global campaign
to prevent the widespread phenomenon of child marriage.
UNICEF airlifts over 2,500 demobilized child
soldiers out of Sudan combat zone
Tuesday, 27 February 2001: In the largest effort of its kind ever undertaken
in southern Sudan, the United Nations Children's Fund announced today
that it had airlifted more than 2,500 child combatants out of conflict
zones and into safe areas where a rehabilitation and family tracing
process can begin.
The world's finance ministers must act now
in fight against poverty
Monday, 26 February 2001: Declaring the need for concerted action in
the fight against child poverty, the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) today urged the world's finance ministers to invest in girls'
education.
UNICEF-led team finds 163 Congolese child soldiers
in Uganda
Tuesday, 20 February 2001: After a three-day mission to Kyankwanzi,
Uganda, a UNICEF-led assessment team reported to.day that it had identified
and registered 163 children from the Democratic Republic of Congo who
had been housed in a political education school since August last year.
UNICEF increases aid to Internally
Displaced Children and Women in Afghanistan
Friday, 16 February 2001: UNICEF decided to release $ 650,000 immediately
to cover needs of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Mazar and Herat
(Afghanistan). This fund will be replenished with donor contributions.
In the wake of quakes, emotional
aid proves hardest to deliver
Friday, 16 February 2001: In the small village of Chandia in the India
quake zone, it doesn't take much to send a four-year-old boy screaming
into his mothers arms - just the visit of a stranger.
UNICEF Executive Director compliments
Viet Nam on its commitment to children
Friday, 16 February 2001: Today the Executive Director of the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Ms. Carol Bellamy, shared her reflections
on the state of Vietnamese children on the final day of her visit to
Viet Nam.
UNICEF-led team fielded to assess
Congolese child soldiers in Uganda
Wednesday, 14 February 2001: A UNICEF-led team will travel to Kyankwanzi
on Thursday to assess the numbers and overall needs of children from
the Democratic Republic of Congo who have been housed in a political
and military education school in Uganda.
UNICEF Executive Director arriving
in Viet Nam
Tuesday, 13 February 2001: Tomorrow the Executive Director of the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Ms. Carol Bellamy, will be arriving
in Viet Nam for a four-day visit.
Immunizations begin in quake zone
Tuesday, 13 February 2001: In the dry desert landscape of Gujarat, brittle
from two years of drought and laid to ruin by an earthquake, even a
few drops of water can be hard to come by. A few drops of measles vaccine
can be even harder.
A million children saved through
vitamin A supplementation
Monday, 12 February 2001: Almost a million child deaths have been averted
since 1998 through the distribution of high-dose vitamin A capsules,
the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF announced today at the XXth
International Vitamin A Consultative Group meeting in Hanoi.
UNICEF applauds agreement with Uganda
on child soldiers
Friday, 9 February 2001: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
applauds the Government of Uganda for granting full access to a political
and military training camp housing child soldiers from the Democratic
Republic of Congo, and for agreeing that all soldiers in the camp under
the age of 18 will be handed over to UNICEF for care and protection.
UNICEF wary of post-quake international
adoptions
Friday, 9 February 2001: The United Nations Children's Fund cautioned
today that international adoptions should serve only as a last resort
for children orphaned by the killer earthquake in Gujarat, saying that
unscrupulous child traffickers may try to pass themselves off as legitimate
agents of good. Training for trauma counsellors also began today.
Injuries will kill more
than 20,000 children in rich countries in the next 12 months
Tuesday, 6 February 2001: UNICEF publishes today the first league
table of child deaths by injury and concludes that injuries kill over
20,000 children aged 1 to 14 every year in the world's wealthiest nations.
The new research, published in the UNICEF Innocenti Report Card, provides
the most comprehensive estimates so far of child injury deaths across
the member countries of the OECD.
Half of all schools damaged or
destroyed in India quake zone
Monday, 5 February 2001: The United Nations Children's Fund
said today that as many as 5 million children under the age of 14 may
have been impacted in some way by the earthquake in the Indian state
of Gujarat, including nearly 2.5 million who have been severely impacted
- children who have lost family members, homes, schools, and their sense
of security.
No child should die of cold: UNICEF
Afghanistan
Thursday, 1 February 2001: In Herat, western Afghanistan,
over 110 displaced people died due to the severe cold on the night of
29/30 January. "NGOs and UN agencies have been providing considerable
support since the summer of 2000, but this support has simply not been
enough," stated UNICEF Afghanistan Representative, Louis Georges
Arsenault.
UNICEF delivers drugs to quake
area, assesses impact on children
Monday, 29 January 2001: The United Nations Children's Fund has committed
itself to at least $8 million in immediate assistance for the earthquake-stricken
Indian state of Gujarat, where the relief effort is now focusing on
helping families who survived the quake survive its aftermath.
On the ground in India, UNICEF
responds to quake
Saturday, 27 January 2001: The United Nations Children's Fund announced
today it has mobilized more than $700,000 in immediate assistance for
the earthquake-stricken Indian state of Gujarat, supporting the relief
effort with critical medical supplies, blankets, chlorine tablets and
more. Staff based in Gujarat are assessing needs, speeding in
supplies.
2nd Preparatory Meeting Begins
for UN Special Session on Children
Friday, 26 January 2001: The second of three preparatory meetings
will take place at UN Headquarters between 29 January and 2 February
this week and involve Government delegates, a number of Special Representatives
sent by Heads of State, and representatives of more than 400 NGOs. On
the agenda: review of progress on the end-decade goals; review of draft
outcome document; and organizational arrangements for the Special Session
in September
Update on UNICEF Executive Board
meeting
Thursday, 25 January 2001: The Executive Board yesterday concluded its
first regular session of 2001. Members discussed the 2001 work plan
and proposed budget of the Private Sector Division, and then turned
to a discussion of financial matters.
Update on UNICEF Executive Board
meeting
Wednesday, 24 January 2001: On the agenda today: 2001 work plan and
proposed budget for the Private Sector Division, followed by a discussion
of financial matters and the pledging event, during which Governments
in a position to do so announce voluntary contributions to UNICEF regular
resources, as well as payment schedules.
UNICEF condemns flogging of Nigerian
girl - Statement Attributable to UNICEF Executive Director
Carol Bellamy
Tuesday, 23 January 2001
Update on UNICEF Executive Board
meeting
Tuesday, 23 January 2001: On the agenda today: continue discussion
of the West and Central Africa programmes, followed by consideration
of programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the
Pacific, and South Asia.
Mia Farrow to brief press on Nigeria
polio campaign
Monday, 22 January 2001: After her first mission since being appointed
UNICEF Special Representative, actress Mia Farrow will brief the international
media about her recent visit to Nigeria on Wednesday, 24 January 2001,
at the UN Secretariat.
UNICEF Executive Board meets in
first session for 2001
Monday, 22 January 2001: The UNICEF Executive Board's first regular
session for 2001 at United Nations Headquarters. On the agenda: elections
of new officers and representatives; address by Executive Director Carol
Bellamy; report to the Economic and Social Council and UNICEF country
notes.
Mia Farrow Visits Nigeria, Fights
to Eradicate Polio
Saturday, 20 January 2001: In her first mission as UNICEF Special Representative,
actress Mia Farrow will help launch a countrywide polio vaccination
campaign in Nigeria on Saturday, designed to immunize every single child
under age five -- a total of 40 million children.
UNICEF involves youth in quake
relief
Friday, 19 January 2001: Even as it rushes in international resources
to help the victims of last weekend's earthquake and mudslide in El
Salvador, the United Nations Children's Fund is strengthening its relief
effort with a bountiful local resource: El Salvador's young people.
An update on UNICEF action.
UNICEF Emergency Programme in El Salvador
Wednesday, 17 January 2001: Situational Report on UNICEF's humanitarian
assistance programmes covering water, sanitation, hygiene, education,
health and psycho-social support for children following 13 January earthquake
in El Salvador.
As aftershocks rattle El Salvador, UNICEF focuses
on helping children cope
Tuesday, 16 January 2001: UNICEF committed itself today to at least
$500,000 in immediate relief aid for El Salvador, saying the money would
be spent on preventing disease and helping restore a sense of normalcy
for children traumatized and left homeless by Saturday's deadly earthquake
and mudslide. Psychosocial support and care for unaccompanied children
are in the works.
UNICEF mourns loss of life In Mongolia
accident
Monday, 15 January 2001: Staff of the United Nations Children's Fund
around the world were in mourning today after the weekend loss of a
UNICEF colleague in a tragic helicopter accident in Mongolia. The accident
on Sunday claimed the lives of nine people, including four staff members
of UN agencies. Fourteen people were injured. "All of us at UNICEF
deeply mourn the loss of our colleague and friend Matthew Girvin,"
said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF.
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