19103: Slavin: UNICEF Press Release 022404 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: PSlavin@unicefusa.org


 Haiti's Simmering War Erodes Child Health
             Children's security threatened by civil disorder

PORT-AU-PRINCE, 24 February 2004 -- UNICEF said today that the violence in
Haiti has sent the country's impoverished health and education systems into
a spiral that is threatening the lives of thousands of Haitian children.

Speaking from Port-au-Prince, UNICEF's representative in Haiti, Ms.
Francoise Gruloos, said she is deeply concerned that thousands of Haitian
children can no longer access basic public services.

"Children are always the most vulnerable in conflict situations," Ms.
Gruloos said.  "And Haiti's children were already extremely vulnerable.  We
need to make sure these children are protected and not forgotten amidst the
civil disorder."

UNICEF experience in conflict situations shows that malnutrition and
disease are the major causes of child deaths during armed conflicts.  When
food is scarce or water is contaminated during war, children usually suffer
most.  Wars also erode health services and other social networks, and
destroy food sources and livelihoods.

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy urged all parties to safeguard
hospitals and schools. "Schools should be treated as zones of peace," said
Bellamy, speaking from New York. "Especially in times of crisis, schools
can provide a safe haven for children. Haiti's children are depending on
adults to protect and preserve their future." Schools are being closed in
several areas, UNICEF noted.

Even before the crisis, the situation for Haitian children was among the
worst in the world, with more than one in 10 Haitian children dying before
the age of five.  More than one-fifth of children are born underweight,
only about half receive routine immunization, and almost 40 per cent of
children under five suffer from acute respiratory infections.

Cases of young children victims of rape are being reported by health
services and human rights organizations.

UNICEF, in close consultation with WHO/PAHO and UNFPA, is seeking to
negotiate access through rebel blockades to deliver supplies of medical
equipment and drugs to health clinics that cater to pregnant and nursing
women and young children. It is also planning to transport tons of
nutritional dry-food, as well as shelter equipment for thousands of
families who have lost their homes, or were forced to flee the fighting..

                     For further information, contact:
   UNICEF Haiti, Sylvana Nzirorera snzirorera@unicef.org; (509) 245 3525
  UNICEF Genève, Damien Personnaz, dpersonnaz@unicef.org (4122) 909 5716
      UNICEF Bureau régional pour l'Amérique latine et les Caraïbes,
              Maria Blanco mblanco@unicef.org, (507) 315 7485
    UNICEF New York, Gordon Weiss, gweiss@unicef.org, (212) 326 7426