21453: (Craig) UN Wire: Haiti's Children Suffering Most From Strife, UNICEF Says (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <hoosier@att.net>


Haiti's Children Suffering Most From Strife, UNICEF Says
Tuesday, April 20, 2004

A nationwide UNICEF assessment of Haiti carried out last month has found
that children are suffering severely from the effects of the country's
recent upheaval, especially the street children of the capital,
Port-au-Prince, as well as the 120,000 girls who work as domestic servants.

Children in more than 15 percent of the surveyed zones were killed in
the violence, UNICEF says, and in more than a third of the zones,
children suffered gunshot wounds and were beaten by armed gangs.  The
rape of children also increased significantly in urban areas where the
conflict was concentrated.

Many children were also recruited by armed gangs and now fear
retribution for violent acts they were forced to commit.

"The conflict affected every child in Haiti because of an environment of
impunity," said Francoise Gruloos-Ackermans, a UNICEF representative in
Haiti.  "The increase in violence meant that the supply of food was
considerably reduced, medical help was virtually unobtainable, and
schools were closed for months.  The crisis is over, but its effect on
children is still of real concern to us."

http://www.unwire.org/UNWire/20040420/449_22987.asp