UNICEF Examines Dire Situation of Haitian Children

United Nations, January 8 (RHC)-- The executive director of the United
Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), Ann Veneman, has just completed a
three-day trip to Haiti, underscoring the need to improve the dire
situation in the country with the highest rates of infant and maternal
mortality in the Western Hemisphere. Speaking to reporters about her
visit, she said: "Haiti is a country that has so much poverty, and its
a country where you find it very difficult to believe that youre only
a three-hour plane ride from New York.

The head of UNICEF noted that only 50 percent of the primary-age
children are in primary school. Forty percent of the children are not
getting regular vaccinations for childhood diseases. And there are
"many, many protection issues in this country, from violence against
children to sexual violence to trafficking, to a whole range of other
issues."

During her stay, Ms. Veneman visited more than a half dozen programs
that receive UNICEF support, including Lakay-Lakou project, which
includes a shelter for street children who are especially vulnerable to
violence and abuse. More than 375 boys and girls to to Lakay-Lakou to
receive basic services such as food, health and education.

Another stop was the Choscal hospital, which treats more than 3,000
children for malnutrition every month. UNICEF has supported the center
since 2005 as part of its ongoing commitment to improving access to
basic health services for children and women, especially children under
the age of five and pregnant women.

Ms. Veneman toured a program managed by AVSI, a UNICEF partner that
gives psychosocial support to children affected by armed violence " an
all-too-common reality for children living in Cit(c) Soleil, one of the
Haitian capitals most dangerous areas.

The executive director of UNICEF also visited programs for children and
women affected by HIV and AIDS. Thousands of children are living with
HIV in Haiti, a situation further complicated by the fact that almost
half a million young people under 18 have lost one or both parents,
many of them to AIDS. 

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