AMMAN/GENEVA/NEW YORK, 22 June 2007 - UNICEF said today that the discovery and broadcast images of children in a Baghdad orphanage suffering horrific neglect and abuse is evidence that the welfare of Iraq’s orphaned and vulnerable children is seriously under threat.

“Even in a country overshadowed by daily scenes of violence, these images are truly shocking. Making children suffer in this way is totally unacceptable,” said UNICEF Representative for Iraq, Roger Wright.

The ongoing conflict and displacement are now putting the welfare of all children at risk, particularly those orphaned. Families struggling to feed and educate their own children are increasingly unable to take on others. A concurrent decline in the number of qualified child-care workers in Iraq makes it harder to provide institutionalized children with the necessary quality of support. This is particularly true for children with special needs, who are probably the most vulnerable of all Iraqis.

UNICEF welcomes Prime Minister Nuri El Maliki’s call for a national enquiry into the conditions of children in orphanages, and urges the Government of Iraq to enable a rapid assessment of all the country’s orphanages and juvenile centres as soon as possible. An open monitoring system for the management of children’s institutions is a top priority, as well as improving the skills of care-givers and accelerating community-based childcare alternatives.

UNICEF also acknowledges the tremendous determination of the majority of the Iraqi people to extend helping hands and to protect children, and urges for this to continue. Families and immediate caregivers are children’s first line of defence against exploitation and abuse. In such times of conflict and crisis, their commitment is more critical than ever to keep children safe from harm.

“Caring for children is our primary responsibility as human beings, no matter what the circumstances,” said Wright. “I hope these terrible images from the Baghdad orphanage will spur us all on to do even more for Iraq’s children.”

About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence.  The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.  UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

For more information, please contact:
Claire Hajaj, UNICEF Iraq, +962 7969 26190
Patrick McCormick, UNICEF New York, 1 212 326 7426
Veronique Taveau, UNICEF Geneva, 41 22 909 5716

LA PAZ, 6 July, 2004 - In the Auditorium of the National Journalists Association in La Paz the launching took place yesterday of the National News Agency for the Rights of the Child (ANNI – Bolivia).

The institutions supporting this project are the News Agency for the Rights of the Child (ANDI BRAZIL),the Bolivian Youth Centre for Education and Communication (ECO JOVENES), executing the project, the AVINA Foundation and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

This institution for communication which forms part of  the ANDI Network and exists in eight other Latin American countries will systematically monitor, carry out research and train journalists and communications media with a focus on the Rights of the Child and the Adolescent.

One of the challenges this agency will face is to contribute to generate a culture amongst journalists to promote and defend the Rights of the Child and the Adolescent, as well as to make visible, parting from the media, the vulnerable situation and the disadvantages faced by the majority of children and adolescents, presenting solutions with equity and respecting intercultural differences.

The children and adolescents subjected to this journalistic coverage by the mass media become objects of public interest, but this collective interest should not ignore the link with ethical and juridical elements forming part of both journalistic practice as well as of the rights of the child and adolescent.

Thus journalists and communications media are obliged to take them into account, to know about them and to register their situation in a veridical and ethical way contributing to a change of values, based on respect for their rights.

Various personalities participated in this event, together with communications media, members of social organizations, and also members of the Consultative Council of ANNI - Bolivia, formed by outstanding Bolivian communicators such as Luis Ramiro Beltrán, Ana María Romero de Campero and Carmen Beatriz Ruiz.

****

For further information please contact:

Clara M. Barona, Communication Officer  UNICEF-BOLIVIA
Telephone nos: (591-2) 2770222 - 2770103 ext.184
cbarona@unicef.org
Eva Sánchez, Volunteer Communication Section UNICEF-BOLIVIA
Telephone nos: (591-2) 2770222 – 2770103 ext. 302
esanchez@unicef.org

Overcoming the Challenges Facing Children Is Key to Human Progress

NEW YORK, 31 December 2003 – Marking the New Year by calling attention to the immediate needs of children in developing countries, UNICEF today named the top five concerns for children in 2004: child survival, the effects of HIV/AIDS, children caught in war, exploitation, and insufficient investment.

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

Bellamy detailed the top five concerns:

Child Survival: Nearly 11 million children die before their fifth birthday each year and tens of millions more are left with physical and/or mental disabilities or learning impairment – solely because they and their caregivers lack the essentials needed for young children to survive and thrive. Measles, malaria and diarrhoea are three of the biggest killers, yet all are preventable or treatable.

HIV/AIDS: More than half of all new infections occur in people under the age of 25, with girls hit harder than boys. Some 14 million children have been orphaned by AIDS, 11 million of whom reside in sub-Saharan Africa. By 2010, the number of children in that region who have lost parents to AIDS is expected to have risen to 20 million.

Children Caught in War: In the last decade alone, more than 2 million children have died as a direct result of armed conflict, and more than three times that number have been permanently disabled or seriously injured. An estimated 20 million children have been forced to flee their homes and more than 1 million children have been orphaned or separated from their families.

Exploitation: Abuse, exploitation and violence extinguish the childhoods of hundreds of millions of children: Approximately 246 million children work, with 171 million of them working in hazardous conditions. An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked every year, and 2 million children, 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.

Insufficient Investment in Children: Too many governments, in both the developed and developing world, fail to recognize that investing in children’s issues means investing in the futures of their countries. During the 1990s, total aid to developing countries declined, despite escalating problems such as AIDS. Children are not a high enough priority.

Education is the single best way to tackle these problems over the long term, Bellamy said.

“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,” Bellamy said. “If we continue to invest in children and insist that they be a central focus of any discussion about development, we may indeed make the world a better and safer place.”

Bellamy noted that while UNICEF continues to provide emergency assistance to children in disasters, such as last week’s massive earthquake in Iran, improving children’s lives requires attention and investment in the entrenched problems that often remain out of the headlines.
*   *   *
For further information, please contact:

Kate Donovan, UNICEF Media, New York (+1 212) 326-7452
Erin Trowbridge, UNICEF Media, New York (+1 212) 326-7269
Wivina Belmonte, UNICEF Media, Geneva (+41 22) 909-5712

KHARTOUM/GENEVA/NEW YORK, 31 October 2004 – UNICEF welcomed today the ratification by the President of Sudan, Omar el-Bashir, of two UN Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of Child. The Optional Protocols aim at strengthening the protection of children from recruitment into armed forces and from sexual exploitation.

Sudan joins more than 70 other countries worldwide that have ratified both Optional Protocols. Sudan is amongst the first Arab countries to do so. Only six have ratified it, though Kuwait’s ratification is imminent.

The Optional Protocols were adopted by the UN General Assembly in May 2000. One aims at combating the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The second aims at putting an end to the involvement of all children under the age of 18 in armed conflict. The Government of Sudan signed only the Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict in 2002. A period of legislative review of both protocols followed. Now, with the President’s signature, the two protocols are ratified, which makes them obligatory under international law.

The two protocols were signed by the President on 11 September, with official notification to the UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors the implementation of the protocols globally, on 28 October.

“We congratulate the Government of Sudan for its commitment to enhance the protection of children’s rights in all regions of Sudan,” said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. “This is a tumultuous period in Sudan’s history and all eyes are on the country. UNICEF views the ratification of the protocols as acknowledgement by the Government of its responsibility to remove children from the fighting forces and to protect children from sexual exploitation and trafficking.”

Various parties involved in Sudan’s two decades of conflict are known to have recruited children into their fighting forces, sometimes forced and sometimes voluntary. As recently as April 2004, evidence indicates that children from the Nuer tribe were taken into militias in Bentiu and Malakal, southern Sudan. Likewise, although no evidence of systematic forced recruitment has been documented, children are seen among the fighting forces in the troubled western region of Darfur

Both boys and girls are known to be associated with the fighting forces in Sudan. “Often, combatants take girls as ‘informal wives’, abandoning them if they become pregnant. Boys are used as soldiers and as servants, sometimes as young as eight years old”, said JoAnna Van Gerpen, UNICEF Representative in Sudan.

Secretary General of the National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW), Dr. Yassir Ibrahim, was satisfied with the President’s ratification of the Protocols. “By ratifying the two Optional Protocols, Sudan is confirming its political and moral commitment to child care and protection.  This commitment emanates from Sudan’s traditional religious and social values that are expressed in national legislation in compliance with international and regional instruments related to child care and protection.”

Van Gerpen called on all fighting forces in Sudan to tackle the sensitive issue of children associated with the fighting forces. “This should happen now.  It doesn’t have to wait for conclusion of the peace agreement,” Van Gerpen said. “We hope that the task force on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration created last year in the context of the peace talks will be empowered to immediately remove children under 18 years from the fighting forces and reintegrate them into their families and communities.”

For further information, please contact:

Paula Claycomb, UNICEF Sudan: +249-12-309410 pclaycombe@unicef.org
Gordon Weiss, UNICEF New York: +212-326-7426 gweiss@unicef.org
Anis Salem, UNICEF Middle East and North Africa: +962-6-553-9977, asalem@unicef.org
Damien Personnaz, UNICEF Geneva: +41-79-216-94-01, dpersonnaz@unicef.org

Representatives from more than 20 countries meet in Bangkok to report on their governments’ progress toward commitments made at the 2001 East Asia and Pacific Regional Consultation against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

BANGKOK, 10 November, 2004 – New initiatives in East Asia and the Pacific are leading the way in combating the commercial sexual exploitation of children, according to senior government officials from across the region.

In a three-day meeting in Bangkok, which concludes today, government, civil society and youth delegates from more than 20 countries in East Asia and the Pacific have been reporting on a set of new measures and improvements to existing interventions designed to protect children from commercial sexual exploitation, assist victims and punish exploiters.

These efforts include the world’s first multi-country Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) against trafficking, which was signed by ministers from Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam on 29 October in Yangon, Myanmar. The MOU covers the prevention of trafficking; the repatriation, rehabilitation and sensitive treatment of victims; and the extradition and prosecution of exploiters. Several other MOUs are being negotiated between governments in the region.

Action has also been taken to address the prostitution of children within their home countries. Community-based projects in the Philippines and Thailand, for example, have empowered local people, including children, to resist exploitation through greater awareness of child rights and the methods of exploiters. Local monitoring systems mean that members of the community can report abuse, while local officials have been trained to respond with greater sensitivity and effectiveness.

Despite this progress, a lack of reliable data remains a major hindrance to the implementation of well-targeted and effective measures to stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children. New research designed to address this shortcoming and better support the need for monitoring was also presented and discussed at the meeting.

In Lao PDR, an unprecedented government study released last month found child trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation in all 17 provinces covered. Interviews with 253 victims (of whom 60 per cent were children), their families and other key informants found that regional economic disparities, a lack of opportunity at home and the negative influence of the media all contribute to vulnerability.

In the Pacific Islands, ongoing research is revealing growing problems of commercial sexual exploitation. In the Solomon Islands, for example, girls are still forced into early marriages and recent violence has led to a surge in child rapes and in boys and girls being forced into prostitution for economic survival. Child marriage is also a major problem in Papua New Guinea, and is a basis of demand for internal trafficking of children.

The results of such research are being fed into the CSECInfo database – a state-of-the-art information management system that collects the data necessary for monitoring the commitments being reviewed this week. The system was developed by the Inter-Agency Group, which consists of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) International, UNICEF and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

The meeting also considered strategies to stop the exponential rise in the supply and demand of child pornography over the internet. New technologies, including the internet, digital cameras and mobile phones, have increased the spread of child pornography, the demand for it and the risk for children of sexual exploitation.

National laws have not kept pace with these trends. Most countries in the region do not have laws that refer specifically to child pornography, and few criminalize its mere possession. This means that the end user of child pornography is not regarded as a criminal, or is subject only to minimal penalties, even though consumers of child pornography further the abuse and exploitation of more children because their demand fuels the incentive to make it. The need for more active identification and targeting of people who demand children for sexual purposes was a key topic of discussion at the meeting.

Young people were especially active throughout the meeting, and on Monday a youth delegation presented a statement assessing the situation of commercial sexual exploitation of their peers and multi-level efforts to address the problem. They expressed support for various actions, but they also identified many problems and gaps, and urged action to address them. In particular, they stressed that high-level policy decisions, such as cross-border agreements, require greater awareness raising and concrete action at the grassroots level in order to ensure positive change.
There will be a press conference at 12.00 on Wednesday 10 November in the UNCC Theatre, on the ground floor of the UN Conference Centre in the UN Building on Ratchadamnoen Nok.

On the panel will be:

• Two youth representatives elected by their peers during the meeting
• Vitit Muntarbhorn, UN Special Rapporteur
• Anupama Rao Singh, UNICEF, Regional Director
• Denise Ritchie, ECPAT New Zealand and Stop Demand Foundation
• Alastair Wilkinson, UNESCAP, Regional Advisor, Social Development and Planning

Leading experts from around the world will also be present to answer questions, and a draft summary of all government progress reports will be made available.

The meeting has been organized by the Inter-Agency Group in cooperation with the governments of Italy, Japan and Thailand and the NGO Group on the Convention for the Rights of the Child, represented by the Save the Children Alliance.

Delegates expected to attend include representatives from Australia, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, the Republic of Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.

For more information, please contact:

Deborah Muir, ECPAT International, 07 052 0671; deborah@ecpat.net

Margaret Hanley, UNESCAP, 02 288 1862-69; unisbkk.unescap@un.org

Robert Few, UNICEF, 01 746 3048; rfew@unicef.org

LIMA, PERU/PANAMA CITY, 12 November 2003 – Welcoming the statement on indigenous children made earlier today in Macchu Picchu, Peru, by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, UNICEF called for urgent, far-reaching action in response to the “genuine emergency” facing millions of children from indigenous communities in Latin America.

UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Nils Kastberg said “Governments, in particular, must place indigenous children at the very center of their agendas.  These children are living through a genuine emergency.  The time has come to turn the many declarations and commitments that have been made over the years into tangible, measurable action to secure their rights.”

“The Secretary-General’s statement could not be more timely,” he added.  “We are seeing in a number of countries what business as usual brings in terms of unrest and instability.”

Meeting with indigenous leaders and Peru’s President Alejandro Toledo in Macchu Picchu – one of the stops on his 3-nation visit to the region – the Secretary-General said “the international community can no longer tolerate” the discrimination and marginalization of indigenous children.  “Nor should any society where it is happening,” he added.

The Secretary-General and his wife Nane Annan took part in a traditional ceremony and paid tribute to Mother Earth as the Incas did 500 years ago.

In his statement, the Secretary-General cited a soon-to-be released report by UNICEF’s Innocenti Research Centre that shows the unacceptably high rates of infant mortality, and the unacceptably low levels of birth registration, vaccination and education, among indigenous communities.

Mr. Annan called the report “a call to action to promote the highest standard of health and nutrition, to guarantee multi-cultural education of high quality, and to give indigenous children a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.”

The Secretary-General’s statement comes in the wake of the adoption, at the 5th Iberoamerican Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Children and Adolescents, of a document containing wide-ranging commitments to improve the lives of indigenous and Afro-descendant children. It is expected that the document will be formally adopted by the upcoming Iberoamerican summit IN Santa Cruz, Bolivia (14-15 November).

Kastberg said: “The most urgent debt that must be repaid in Latin America is not its foreign debt; it is the social debt owed to its children, in particular its indigenous children.  Investing today in indigenous children — their health, nutrition, education and participation — is the best and most effective way to begin repaying that debt and jump-starting sustainable development.”

He added: “The handwriting is on the wall: democracy and economic progress are endangered by the continued unjust, radical division of societies, the impoverishment and systematic exclusion of indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples.”

The UNICEF report, “Ensuring the Rights of Indigenous Children”, presents a global picture of the indigenous child.  It finds that, compared to other children, indigenous children generally demonstrate:
– higher mortality rates;
–lower vaccination rates;
–lower levels of birth registration;
–lower school enrolment;
–higher rates of school drop-out and grade repetition; and
–poorer access to justice systems.

Figures compiled by UNICEF’s Latin America and Caribbean office illustrate that indigenous populations in the region are the poorest of the poor.  Recent data show that in Guatemala, for example, 87% of the indigenous population is poor, as compared to 54% of the non-indigenous population; in Mexico, that ratio is 80% vs. 18%; in Peru, 79% of the indigenous population is classified as poor, compared to 50% of the non-indigenous population; while in Bolivia, the ratio is 64% vs. 48%.

The full statement by the Secretary-General is attached in English and Spanish, with unofficial translations into several indigenous languages.

#  #  #
For more information contact:

Kate Donovan,  UNICEF Media, New York  Tel:  212 326 7452 e-mail kdonovan@unicef.org
Robert Cohen (UNICEF TACRO) – 507-315-7484 or 507-676-3216 email:  rcohen@unicef.org
Marilu Wiegold ,  UNICEF Peru     51-1 99216471
Sandra Arzubiaga, UNICEF Peru,  51-1 99630567

• Over 18 million children are excluded by poverty
• More than 1 million live in institutions instead of families
• Minority children bear the brunt of discrimination

ISTANBUL, 16 June 2003 – Arguing that the exclusion of millions of children in the countries of Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States is undermining the development of those nations, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy joined civil society representatives from 27 countries at the launch of a major regional campaign to “Leave No Child Out“.

Speaking to representatives of hundreds of non-profit groups from across the region, Bellamy declared that “exclusion from basic services and a dignified start in life creates a vicious cycle of disadvantage, with harm passed from one generation to the next in a legacy of poverty, ill health, lack of education, and lack of prospects. It undermines stability and democracy and holds societies back economically due to over-burdened public services and lost productivity.”

“A world fit for children, “ she said, recalling the vision that emerged from last year’s UN Special Session on Children, “is a world in which no child is discriminated against or excluded. The enormous challenges emerging in this region can only be overcome by investment in the well-being of children – all children. “

The year-long advocacy campaign is being spearheaded by the Regional Network for Children (RNC) in Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic States – an association of non-governmental organizations that work with children in partnership with UNICEF. The campaign follows on the heels of the Say Yes for Children initiative that gathered 26 million pledges in the region in 2001-2002, identifying “Leave No Child Out“ as the number one priority from among ten key issues facing children globally.

Organizers said the campaign is based on the non-discrimination principle of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. It targets seven main forms of discrimination and exclusion: poverty, ethnicity, institutionalisation, disability, the impact of conflict, gender discrimination, and the stigma of HIV/AIDS.

Noting that these factors often work in combination to create layer upon layer of exclusion, RNC Secretary-General Diana Nistorescu said they “slow progress being made on other fronts and undermine the original goals of democratic transition” that began with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Research conducted by UNICEF’s Innocenti Research Centre See .www.unicef-icdc.org puts numbers to the problem of discrimination in the region:

• Of the region’s 117 million children, nearly 18 million are living in poverty, often denied basic services and opportunities to which they are entitled.
• Children belonging to minority groups – such as the Roma population of some 9 million – receive “second-class” education in many countries, often suffer from ill-health and face prejudice and violence in their communities.
• Around 1.5 million children are living in public care instead of with their families, an increase of 150,000 since 1989. Around 1 million of them live in Soviet-style institutions.
• In the one-third of the countries of the region where armed conflicts have taken place since 1989, there were approximately 2.2 million internally displaced people and almost 1 million refugees in 2000 – most of them women and children.
• And now the region faces the fastest growing rates of HIV infection in the world, with over a million cases estimated by UNAIDS – most of them young people who face stigma and exclusion.

And now the region faces the fastest growing rates of HIV infection in the world, with over a million cases estimated by UNAIDS – most of them young people who face stigma and exclusion.
UNICEF added that excluded children are particularly vulnerable to violence, exploitation, and abuse, and noted that trafficking of women and children is a large and growing trend in the region. “One of the keys to leaving no child out is ensuring that all children are raised in a protective environment; in other words, that the adults around them – in school, at home, in law enforcement, and at work – understand children’s unique vulnerabilities and act together to protect them from exploitation.”

Emphasizing that “all of this exclusion is preventable,” Bellamy said that the return of economic growth and the consolidation of democracy in nearly all countries in the region mean that the resources and the basic policies are in place to turn things around.

The “Leave No Child Out” campaign will include year-long efforts to raise the issues of exclusion in the media; roundtable symposiums at the university as wel las community levels ; research into the impact of exlusionary policies on progress for children in the region ; and advocacy with governments and other key institutions.

The ultimate goals, said organizers, is to remind the region’s governments of the commitments they have made to ensure the rights of all children – including the obligation to uphold the Convention on the Rights of the Child and agreement to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The NGOs participating in the 3-day conference in Istanbul are drafting an Open Letter that will appeal to governments to honour the promises they have made to children.

UNICEF Regional Director Philip O’Brien stressed, however, that the campaign does not only seek improved policies, laws and services – as important as these are. “It must also address the deep-seated prejudices that fuel exclusion and intolerance, while celebrating the diversity that represents the region’s richness and potential,” he said.

For further information, please contact:

Robert Cohen, UNICEF Media, Geneva (4122) 909-5631

Also calls on government to create monitoring system for working children

UNICEF Executive Director Praises Ecuador
for Increased Investment in Children

Also Calls on Government to Create Monitoring System for Working Children

QUITO, ECUADOR/ NEW YORK, 5 August 2003 –  UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy today applauded the commitment of Ecuador’s government to improving children’s lives through increased social spending, but said that more investment is necessary to reach all children with basic services.

“Basic education and health for all children are principal concerns for UNICEF in Ecuador,” Bellamy said on the first day of an official visit to the country. “By investing in services for children, Ecuador’s government is making an investment in its future – one that will pay huge dividends.  UNICEF applauds this commitment, and we hope it grows.”

Bellamy praised the new Ecuadorian Code for Children and Adolescents that legally guarantees the welfare of children.

She said the government must now  take all the necessary steps to enable the full implementation of the Code.  “The Ecuadorian budget must guarantee sufficient resources to allow fulfilment of social goals for children,” Bellamy said.  “I am confident that the current Ecuadorian administration also considers this an urgent priority. “

Since the onset of a regional economic crisis in 1998, conditions for children and adolescents have gradually deteriorated. Among other things, UNICEF has been supporting a citizen surveillance initiative that monitors the effects of crisis on children, especially indigenous children, whose health and education indicators are substantially below the national average.

Bellamy praised the partnership between the Government and UNICEF in protecting and monitoring the well-being of children. She highlighted the Citizens’ Observatory, which is designed to monitor the country’s progress in implementing the rights of children.  “This is a project that should be replicated in other countries,” she said.  The Observatory helps the government tailor policies and legislation to better address the needs of children, and helps set concrete goals for improving child well-being.

But Bellamy called on the government to do more for working children, including the establishment of a system to monitor child labouras mandated by the new Code.

Bellamy’s visit to Ecuador includes meetings with President Lucio Gutierrez, the First Lady, the Vice President, the Minister of Economy and Finance, and representatives of Congress to discuss a number of issues related to children.  She will also meet with the General Paco Moncayo, mayor of Quito, to discuss the implementation of the Code on Children.

***

For further information, please contact:

Gabriela Malo, UNICEF Ecuador, 593-2-2460330,ext. 1511, cell.  593-9-714126
Mohammad Jalloh, UNICEF Media, New York, 212 326 7516
Kate Donovan, UNICEF Media, New York,  212 326 7452

Some key facts about the situation of children in Ecuador:

• Ecuador has a population of 4.8 million children under 18 years of age, which is about 40% of total population.
• Child immunization coverage has improved greatly over the past years -  89 per cent of children, one year old, are immunized against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus, 90.2 per cent are immunized against polio and 82.5 per cent against measles.
• School enrolment has also improved with 92% of boys, 92% of girls in school closing the gender gap between boys and girls.
• Working children constitute up to 16% of children 5-14 years, posing a serious challenge for the government and partners.
• The new law for children and adolescents, in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, was approved by the Ecuadorian Congress in December 2002 and entered into effect in early January 2003. The Code encompasses social protection areas such as childhood disabilities, sexual abuse, physical mistreatment at home and educational institutions, the children of incarcerated parents, and children removed from their home environment.

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For further information, please contact:
Gabriela Malo, UNICEF Ecuador, 593-2-2460330,ext. 1511, cell.  593-9-714126
Mohammad Jalloh, UNICEF Media, New York, 212 326 7516
Kate Donovan, UNICEF Media, New York,   212 326 7452

SAN SALVADOR, 1 August 2003 On July 30th, 2003, San Salvador, the capital city of the Central American country of El Salvador, was declared a “Child Friendly City”. According to the formal agreement signed between the Mayor of San Salvador, Carlos Rivas Zamora, and a child representative from the capital, Fátima Marielos Navarrete, the most important city of El Salvador will now guarantee the development of local activities focused on the promotion of children’s rights. UNICEF also signed the agreement as a witness to the proceedings, and to the commitments made by both the Municipal authorities and the children of San Salvador to promote co-operative actions and focused programming on behalf of children in the city.

The agreement was signed in a hotel with the presence of children, parents, members of the Municipal Council of San Salvador and the local press, among which were two teenage reporters from a local televised children’s programme.

During the event, Rivas Zamora also announced the beginning of the “Fiestas Agostinas”, a weeklong celebration in the name of the capital’s patron: “el Divino Salvador del Mundo”. This year, the “Fiestas Agostinas” will also be dedicated to Salvadorian children. The mayor explained that, parallel to the religious activities, there would be parades and street theatre that will reflect child and youth related themes and promote children’s rights.

This is a very special day that will be remembered in the history of El Salvador because, for the first time, our capital is dedicating its Fiestas Agostinas to us, and San Salvador is being declared a Child Friendly City - a commitment that we’ll sign with the mayor”, said the 11 year old child representative

According to the agreement, among the commitments adopted by Rivas Zamora are “to recognize, through local policies and municipal agreements, that all members of the population from 0-18 years of age have rights” and to “destine municipal funds to create a budget that would be used for the progressive investment of social development programmes that directly benefit children and adolescents, particularly those currently disadvantaged in the context of local development plans”. For their part, the children signed a commitment to “respect the municipal government and to support its work through participation in decision making meetings”, as well as to “support municipal policies, developed by the local government, that seek the eradication of child exploitation”.

“We trust that the rest of the municipalities follow San Salvador’s example and that they will take into account the important role that children play in the society. Remember, we are not the future, we’re already here”, affirmed Navarrete amidst applause from other 20 children of different ages that were present.

San Salvador is the second “Child Friendly City” in this Central American nation. Parallel to this, and spurred by the example of San Salvador, it is expected that other local governments will adopt the commitment to work, with the children, for the defence of children’s rights.

BELIZE CITY, 7 September 2004 - The Prime Minister Hon. Said Musa and the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Dean Barrow endorsed a National Plan of Action for Children and Adolescents, 2004-2015 (NPA) during a brief ceremony at the Radisson Fort George in Belize City at 8:00am today.

The NPA is a comprehensive instrument that will guide actions intended to promote the holistic development of children and adolescents in Belize over the next eleven years. The Plan outlines objectives, strategies and specific actions in six main areas: health, education, child protection, family, HIV/AIDS and culture.

“Working for children and with children is to work for democracy,” said Miss Nadya Vasquez, UNICEF representative in Belize.  “Children’s rights help us to find understanding in national interests. The National Plan of Action represents a socio-political action by the State that will help the children of Belize survive and thrive.”

The endorsement of the NPA marks the culmination of an eighteen month process.  In November 2002, with the support of UNICEF, the party leaders appointed three representatives from their respective parties to a ‘Working Group’ that actively engaged in the process of achieving consensus on the National Plan of Action.

The Working Group also included a representative from the National Youth Council, the National Committee for Families and Children, PAHO/WHO and UNICEF and was supported by technical experts from the public and private sectors, civil society, and academia. Consensus was achieved on the document in June 2004.

“The bipartisan approach to developing this NPA for Children and Adolescents is intended to make sure that both the People’s United Party and the United Democratic Party, whenever they form the government, will ensure that children are not forgotten when national development plans are being written and implemented” said the Hon. Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize, in his speech this morning.

Similarly, the Leader of the Opposition observed that this historical moment represents a milestone for the country, setting children issues above partisan politics and guarantying continues actions on their behalf.

The National Committee for Families and Children (NCFC) alone with the National Human Advisory Committee will monitor the implementation of the National Plan of Action for Children and Adolescents.

UNICEF will continue to provide technical support in the context of a social investment programme and will promote public awareness on these critical steps towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals for Children.

For further information, please contact:

Cesar Villar, UNICEF Belize, Tel: +501 223 3864/3609, cvillar@unicef.org