PHA-Exchange> UNICEF PLEDGES TO FOCUS ON CHILD SURVIVAL AND OTHER BASIC CONCERNS IN 2004

[Aviva]

UNICEF PLEDGES TO FOCUS ON CHILD SURVIVAL AND OTHER BASIC CONCERNS IN
2004
New York, Dec 31 2003 12:00PM
The United Nations Children's Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org">UNICEF)
today pledged to focus its efforts next year on helping the 
young to survive in a world where they are often caught up in war,
ravaged by HIV/AIDS, imperilled by exploitation, and 
under-serviced by society.

"Each of these issues alone poses heartbreaking challenges for hundreds
of millions of children," UNICEF Executive Director Carol 
Bellamy said. "Together, they represent a global imperative to do more
for children in 2004."


Ms. Bellamy noted that nearly 11 million children die before their
fifth birthday each year, and tens of millions more are left 
with physical and/or mental disabilities - solely because they lack the
essentials to thrive. Measles, malaria and diarrhoea are 
three of the biggest killers, yet all are preventable or treatable.


HIV/AIDS has orphaned 14 million children, 11 million of them in
sub-Saharan Africa, she added. By 2010, the number of children in 
that region who have lost parents to AIDS is expected to have risen to
20 million.


In the last decade alone, she continued, more than 2 million children
have died as a direct result of armed conflict, and more 
than 6 million have been permanently disabled or seriously injured. An
estimated 20 million children have been forced to flee 
their homes and more than 1 million have been orphaned or separated
from their families.


Abuse, exploitation and violence extinguish the childhoods of hundreds
of millions of children, with 246 million working, 171 
million of them in hazardous conditions. Some 1.2 million are
trafficked every year, and 2 million, mainly girls, are believed to 
be exploited through the commercial sex trade. At any given time, over
300,000 child soldiers, some as young as eight, are 
exploited in armed conflicts in over 30 countries around the world.

Ms. Bellamy also charged that too many governments - in both rich and
poor countries - fail to recognize that investing in 
children means investing in the future of their countries.


Education is the single best way to tackle all these problems over the
long term, she added. "By making sure that all boys and 
girls get a basic education, we will not only give them a chance of
growing into independent adults who can protect their own 
health and rights, but we will give the next generation of children a
better chance of escaping a life of poverty and hardship," 
Ms. Bellamy said.