GENEVA, September 2003 - UNICEF has launched an emergency vaccination campaign against hepatitis B for two ethnic groups in a remote region of the Peruvian Amazon, whose existence could be threatened by a prolonged outbreak of the disease.

Local leaders warned that both the Candoshis and the Sharpas, located in the High Amazon, Department of Loreto, could face extinction within 10 to 12 years if preventive action, especially among children, is not taken to staunch an outbreak of hepatitis B.

The situation is dramatic. In 2001, 145 cases of hepatitis B were reported among the Candoshi ethnic group alone, and in 2002, approximately 40 deaths were registered. The population of both groups in this region totals about 3,000.

The UNICEF campaign will seek to vaccinate 150 newborns of both groups every year against hepatitis B and to complete vaccination before they turn one year old. The challenge is to achieve vaccination within 24 hours after birth to avoid contagion directly from the mothers, in what are very difficult geographical conditions.

There are approximately 2,500 Candoshi people living in the Pastaza River and 500 Shapra living in the Morona River. About 500 of the total are boys and girls under the age of 5, all of whom are at extremely high risk of acquiring hepatitis B. The area is so enormous that its population density is roughly 2.4 inhabitants per square km. Travel from almost any of the 124 communities in both rivers to the closest health center may take up to four days.

UNICEF’s campaign strategy includes local and community work and political mobilization with authorities in Lima. At the local level, UNICEF is contributing to the installment of an efficient cold chain; the transportation of health workers and volunteer community health promoters along the rivers where members of the ethic groups live; the registration of all pregnant mothers in order to reach all newborns; and the capacity-building of local leaders and community volunteers to enable them to monitor vaccinations and promote prevention practices.

On19 September, UNICEF provided 7 water boats to enable health promoters to undertake mobilization activities up and down the rivers; five 50-litre solar refrigerators, and other supplies needed for an efficient cold chain in the jungle.

UNICEF has also begun an ethnographic study of the community to better understand local customs and to carefully incorporate them into its  intervention strategies.
For more information contact:
Damien Personnaz, UNICEF Media
Geneva +41 22-909 5716

Kate Donovan, UNICEF Media
New York (+1 212) 326-7452

SAN SALVADOR, 19 August 2003 – The Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila, and the Representative of UNICEF in El Salvador, Juan Carlos Espínola, launched the Central American radio campaign called “La Ruta del Norte” (The Route to the North) on Monday, a programme aimed to persuade mothers, fathers or guardians not to send their children to the United States illegally.

“This campaign has two phases.  The initial phase will be predominantly promotional involving the radio broadcast of 40 stories and 11 spots of people who have traveled illegally to the United States, as well as a series of 10 chapters on the story of a Central American boy who traveled abroad. The broadcast of these messages will be carried out approximately for six months,” announced Brizuela who added that 633 Central American radio stations will support the campaign.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs also informed that, once the first six months of the project are over, “we’ll reach the second phase that has an educative focus.  We’ll be distributing posters and comics that will be handed out at schools so that we can reach people before they choose to send their children on an illegal journey.”

During the event, Espínola explained the importance of the broadcast of the messages since “the children who travel illegally under the care of strangers can be easy prey for networks of child sexual exploiters, drug traffickers, or they can disappear completely.”

“This campaign will have special relevance with the Christmas holidays approaching because it’s the time in which the parents, that live in the United States, start the necessary arrangements so that their children can reach them. This is a basic right and cannot be denied, but it’s necessary that the adults take into account that, if they send their children with traffickers, they can run unnecessary and dangerous risks,” said the Representative of UNICEF in El Salvador.

The “Ruta del Norte” is a joint effort between Radio Nederland of Costa Rica, the International Migrations Organization (IMO), the Central American Union of Associations of Radio Stations (UNARCA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador and UNICEF.

“I cannot finish without thanking and acknowledging the work of the non-governmental organizations on the matter. The network that we can launch as a government cannot reach all the spaces of the illegal immigrant routes and this is where the civic organizations appear. They take water to those who are close to dying; they recognize the vulnerabilities that the illegal immigrants suffer.   We have to mention the refuge houses that exist in the routes.  We have to provide support to them so that we can close the circle.  It is impossible to believe that a government can tackle the subject alone,” added the Minister of Foreign Affairs.  The first broadcast of “La Ruta del Norte” is expected next week.

* * *

Alba Amaya
Unicef El Salvador
Tel: 503 252 88 00

UNICEF launches “brave campaign” to bring hundreds of thousands of children back to school – with ship, canoe, and wheelbarrow

GENEVA/NEW YORK/MONROVIA, 3 November 2003 - UNICEF today said that it expects hundreds of thousands of children to return to studies during Liberia’s Back-to-School campaign – thousands of them for the first time in their lives.

Speaking from New York on the first day of the massive education push, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said that it is expected that increasing numbers of children – up to 750,000 - will take to their books as the effort to reach them extends into still troubled counties.

“This is a brave campaign, launched at a fragile time in the peace process,” said Bellamy. “It’s a courageous step, agreed to by the peace signatories, and a significant seal on the peace agreement. It’s absolutely right that the first dividends of peace should be paid to Liberia’s children, who have endured so much for so long and who hold the future of Liberia in their hands.”

The Liberian Back-to-School campaign is modelled on similar post-war education drives launched by UNICEF in other countries, including Afghanistan in 2002.

Difficulty in reaching parts of the country because of continuing insecurity and crippled infrastructure has compelled UNICEF to employ some unusual methods to distribute school materials. This includes teachers wheel-barrowing school supplies, and a fleet of outboard canoes to reach river villages.

The Liberian effort includes the training of almost 20,000 teachers, and the rehabilitation of 3,700 schools, providing a major boost to the moribund economy. To encourage parents to send children to school in the first wave, school fees have been waived, and children are no longer required to wear school uniforms.

UNICEF has supported the Liberian government with training and equipment, including thousands of ‘School-in-a-box’ kits, with thousands more kits expected to arrive as other areas of Liberia fall calm. A UNICEF project, funded by the US, aims to provide clean water and hygiene facilities to hundreds of schools.

UN agencies, such as WFP, UNHCR, UNDP and UNOPS are backing the education effort with food for pupils, materials for temporary class spaces, as well as the rehabilitation of schools.

“Back-to-School in Liberia addresses key issues in war-torn West Africa,” said Bellamy. “Children who grow up knowing nothing but war and are recycled across borders to fight, must be offered education and a future at home. Education establishes a path beyond poverty. And a child looking to the future is less likely to pick up a gun.”

*The School in a Box is a mobile classroom for 80 pupils that can be used in any setting.  It consists of a metal box and teacher’s bag, a teacher’s guide and teaching materials.  The kit also includes writing materials including chalk, pencils, sharpeners and exercise books for children.

UNICEF will launch its annual flagship report, the State of the World’s Children, on 11 December 2003. The 2004 report presents girls’ education as one of the most crucial issues facing the international development community. The report is a call to action on behalf of the millions of children who are not in school around the world, most of whom are girls. The report argues that the theories, policies and practices of development have been marked by gender discrimination and that the standard approach to development has focused on economic growth rather than human welfare. Through the State of the World’s Children 2004, UNICEF calls on every nation engaged in development to make the education of all children - with an emphasis on girls - a major focus of investment.
* * * *

For further Information please contact:

Durudee Sirichanya, UNICEF Liberia, + 231-652 4978
dsirichanya@unicef.org

Margherita Amadeo, UNICEF West Africa, + 377- 475 31424
mamadeo@unicef.org

Damien Personnaz, UNICEF Geneva, + 41 – 22 – 909 – 5517,
dpersonnaz@unicef.org

Gordon Weiss, UNICEF New York, + 1 – 212 – 3267426,
gweiss@unicef.org

NEW YORK, 24 July 2002 - In a ceremony here today, UNICEF and the International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions announced a global fundraising alliance for children under the banner: “Your Change for A Real Change.”

The partnership, initiated by Mr. Alain Baldacci, Chairman of the IAAPA Board of Directors, will offer a menu of cause-related fundraising activities from which individual amusement park members and partnering UNICEF field offices and national committees may select. The IAAPA will promote the partnership and encourage members to adopt the programme and help make a real change in the life of children world-wide.

“There is a natural affinity between UNICEF’s work with children and their communities, and the time for family recreation provided by IAAPA’s members in the amusement parks and attractions industry,” said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. “We welcome this initiative for the IAAPA and its members to get involved in supporting children world-wide.”

IAAPA said its message will be that every child should have the opportunity to enjoy a healthy and happy childhood.

IAAPA has 5600 member amusement parks in 100 countries, with a total of some 1 billion visitors annually. The association was formed in 1918 to serve the needs of the amusement parks industry. IAAPA is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and has an elected Board of Directors.

Funds raised from the three-year partnership will go toward supporting UNICEF immunization activities around the world. UNICEF is the world’s largest buyer of childhood vaccines and helps governments protect hundreds of millions of children from vaccine-preventable diseases every year. Still, more than a quarter of the world’s children are not protected by routine vaccination.

IAAPA member parks in several countries have already expressed a commitment to adopting the “Your Change for a Real Change” campaign.

* * *

For further information, please contact:
Alfred Ironside, UNICEF Media, New York (212) 326-7261

Tamale, GHANA , 4 February 2004 – Today 650 kilometres north of Ghana’s capital city, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and senior officials from The Carter Center, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF made a historic visit to the endemic Guinea worm village of Dashie to urge Ghana to finish the eradication of Guinea worm disease.

Director-General of WHO Dr. LEE Jong-wook and Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF Kul C. Gautam joined Carter on the field trip hosted by the Ghana Minister of Health Dr. Kweku Afriyie.

“There is no excuse for the unnecessary suffering caused by Guinea worm disease,” said Jimmy Carter, Carter Center chair and 2002 Nobel laureate at a press conference that followed in Tamale. “In Ghana, the resources, support, knowledge, and ability to eradicate Guinea worm disease are in place. It is up to Ghana  to commit to the challenge by taking swift and immediate action.”

As of January 2004, the global guinea worm eradication campaign is now fighting the last 1 percent of Guinea worm disease remaining in the world. Ghana accounted for 27 percent of the approximately *35,000 cases reported in 2003.

On behalf of the President and the people of Ghana, Dr. Afriyie accepted the challenge, saying, “Ghana must raise public awareness and gain a sense of urgency at all levels to turn its numbers around and no longer hold the title of most endemic Guinea worm country in West Africa.  Ghana will meet this challenge by making Guinea worm a priority, providing improved water supply to endemic communities, and increasing health education.”

While Ghana swiftly reduced Guinea worm cases when the program started in 1989, surges in cases in the mid and late 1990s paved the way for Ghana to rank as the second most highly endemic country in the world in 2003, second only to Sudan which has been grappling with a civil war for more than 20 years. By the end of 2003, 8,283 cases were reported, a 48 percent increase in cases reported compared to a year earlier. According to a UNICEF 2003 progress report on Guinea Worm in Ghana, an estimated 40 percent of those afflicted with the disease are schoolchildren.

“The eradication of Guinea worm will be a major public health victory with a significant impact on children, who make-up more than a third of cases worldwide,” said Kul Gautam of UNICEF.

While in Ghana’s most endemic region, the team met with Guinea worm patients in the community, visited a water source and Guinea worm care center, and participated in health education sessions. The delegation also discussed Ghana’s current obstacles and ways to reinvigorate eradication efforts with local, regional, and national leaders during an hour-long meeting.

Guinea worm disease is expected to be the first parasitic disease to be eradicated, and the first disease to be eradicated without vaccines or medications. It is contracted when people consume stagnant water, contaminated with microscopic water fleas carrying infective larvae. Inside a human’s abdomen, the larvae mature and grow, some as long as three feet.

After a year, the worm slowly emerges through a painful blister in the skin, usually on the lower limbs.

Since the Guinea worm eradication campaign began in 1986, the disease has been reduced by 99 percent from 3.5 million to approximately *35,000 reported in 2003. With 13 of the 20 endemic countries free or nearly free of Guinea worm, the disease only remains in parts of Ethiopia and Uganda, West Africa and Sudan - Guinea worm eradication is in sight.

“The eradication strategies have been applied in all Guinea worm endemic countries and focus on three main measures: making water safe, effectively managing and containing cases, and providing health education.  Through these, the transmission of the disease can be stopped entirely, here in  Ghana and in all remaining affected countries,” said Dr. LEE of the WHO.

The Carter Center, the WHO, and UNICEF are working together in collaboration with the national programs for the final push to eradicate Guinea worm disease. Other important partners include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Peace Corps, UN Foundation, and the governments of Japan, United States, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Kuwait, and the United Kingdom. Members of the general public can continue to accompany President Carter virtually by visiting www.cartercenter.org as President Carter “blogs,” or publishes regular journal entries from the field. Beginning Feb. 2, the reports on the Carter Center’s Web site will share his thoughts and feelings during his journey in West Africa.

(*2003 provisional numbers)

*****

The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, the Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 65 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers to increase crop production. To learn more about The Carter Center and Guinea worm disease, please visit: www.cartercenter.org.

The World Health Organization, the United Nations specialized agency for health, was established on 7 April 1948. WHO’s objective, as set out in its Constitution, is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Health is defined in WHO’s Constitution as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. www.who.int

UNICEF works in 158 countries to ensure that all children survive and thrive through adolescence. UNICEF’s efforts on the ground emphasize  immunization and micronutrients; the best start in life, including safe water and sanitation, basic health and nutrition, and loving interaction; education for all children; fighting HIV/AIDS and caring for children orphaned by the disease; and a protective environment that shields children from abuse, exploitation and violence. UNICEF is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from governments, foundations, businesses and individuals. www.unicef.org

****

For further information, please contact:

Emily Howard  The Carter Center  mobile phone in Ghana until Feb. 5: (233) 24 528931
Travel e-mail: emilyrhoward@yahoo.com After Feb. 9: 1-404-420-5126, Fax: 1-404-420-5145, e-mail: ehowa01@emory.edu

Kate Donovan, UNICEF Media, New York 212 – 326 – 7452
Christine McNab,  WHO Geneva, tel:  41 22 791 4688

· Fox Kids Cup to act as promotional platform for UNICEF’s Go Girls! Education for Every Child campaign

· Pledge campaign launched via 12 microsites worldwide

AMSTERDAM / LONDON, 4 April 2003 - Fox Kids Europe (FKE), the leading pan-European integrated children’s entertainment company, today announced the launch of an online campaign to collect pledges in support of UNICEF’s Go Girls! Education for Every Child campaign, a major part of UNICEF’s ‘25 by 2005′ initiative to get more girls into school in 25 priority countries by 2005.

The FKE-UNICEF online pledge campaign has been developed jointly as part of the overall partnership to promote the Go Girls! initiative via the Fox Kids Cup, FKE’s global six-a-side football tournament for girls and boys under 13 years of age. The five-point pledge outlines what it takes to ensure every child has the best possible education: the best start in life, the best schools, the best teachers, safety, protection and fairness.

This pledge campaign launches today and will run until the Fox Kids Cup international final, which will take place at Sportclub Feyenoord in Rotterdam, the Netherlands from June 22-26, 2003. UNICEF will continue to collect pledges through various alternative methods over the next two years.

Supporters will be able to log on to any of the 12 dedicated and fully localised Fox Kids Cup microsites to make a pledge. All local microsites can be accessed via the central Fox Kids Cup website (www.foxkidscupinfo.com). Currently, 1.4 million unique users per month log onto FKE’s pan-European network of websites.

The Fox Kids Cup 2003 event will be the biggest in its history with close to one million players taking part. FKE and UNICEF first teamed up last year to promote Say Yes for Children, an initiative in which over 94 million people pledged support for ten basic principles to protect and improve the lives of children. Go Girls! Education for Every Child builds on the results of Say Yes for Children, which identified education as the top global priority.

Marjorie Newman-Williams, Director of the Division of Communication, UNICEF says: “Far too often, girls are denied the chance to go to school, to learn in a safe and protective environment, to be taught by well-trained teachers, to be treated fairly and as equals. The pledge campaign calls on the world to help us give both boys and girls the same opportunities.”

Shari Donnenfeld, Executive Director of Research and Marketing, FKE and Fox Kids Cup, says: “UNICEF’s Go Girls! campaign is all about giving girls a fair chance and their right to an education. It’s a vital initiative to make sure there are as many girls as boys in school and we are delighted that the Fox Kids Cup, itself a model of gender equality and the biggest event of its kind for girls, can provide kids with the chance to give much-needed support to others. We look forward to working with UNICEF on this initiative to advocate equal opportunities for all kids around the world.”

About UNICEF’s Go Girls! Education for Every Child campaign:

Go Girls! Education for Every Child is a global pledge campaign in support of ensuring that every girl and boy receives a quality education. The campaign will run through to the end of 2005. This worldwide support will act as a signal to decision-makers - from parents to government ministers - of the importance of educating all children.

UNICEF’s ‘25 by 2005′ campaign is a major initiative to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education in 25 priority countries by the year 2005. The campaign, which includes fifteen countries in Africa and Asian countries such as Afghanistan and Bangladesh, focuses on countries where girls’ education is in a critical situation and progress would make a real impact.

UNICEF will work closely with national governments and other partners to identify girls who are not in school. In each country, UNICEF will work with the government to mobilise new resources, build broad national consensus about the need to get girls to school, and help improve schools themselves to make them more welcoming to girls.

UNICEF has chosen a manageable number of countries and based its selection on criteria that looked for countries with one or more of the following: low enrolment rates for girls; gender gaps of more than 10% in primary education enrolment; countries with more than one million girls out of school; countries included on the Education For All Fast Track initiative; and countries hard hit by a range of crises that affect school opportunities for girls, such as HIV/AIDS and conflict.

For further information please contact:

Allison Hickling, UNICEF New York, (212) 326-7224, ahickling@unicef.org
About Fox Kids Europe N.V.:

Fox Kids Europe N.V. (FKE) is the leading pan-European integrated children’s entertainment company with localised television channels, programme distribution and consumer products businesses. FKE’s business lines are driven by a localised approach and its ownership of one of the largest and most recognised libraries of children’s programming in the world, which includes approximately 6,300 episodes. FKE is listed on Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange.

Channels

FKE produces and broadcasts television channels for children aged 2-14. The content of each is tailored specifically to the local audience in each market, taking into account viewing habits, popularity of programmes, parental sensitivities and cultural trends. Fox Kids channels are currently broadcasting via cable and satellite to 57 countries, reaching more than 33 million households in 17 languages. FKE’s main markets include the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the Nordic Region, Spain, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Russia, Israel and Italy.

FKE also offers interactive TV games channels, ‘Fox Kids Play’, in France and Israel and operates 17 localised websites for the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, France, Israel, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Romania, Norway, Italy, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Programme Distribution

FKE owns one of the largest libraries of children’s programming in Europe. Programming from its library is distributed to more than 120 different terrestrial, cable and satellite channels in over 50 markets across Europe and the Middle East. This library includes major global programming franchises such as Power Rangers, Spiderman, X-Men, Inspector Gadget and Goosebumps. The rights for most of the titles in the FKE library cover all markets in Europe and the Middle East and include many forms of media. The FKE library is serviced by Buena Vista International Television.

Consumer Products

FKE’s consumer product activities include toys, merchandising, retail projects and home videos sold in 30 European countries. FKE is present in the UK, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Russia, Spain and Benelux and also retains third party agents in other European markets. FKE’s consumer product properties are sourced from the FKE library and include properties such as Power Rangers and Gadget and the Gadgetinis as well as third party agreements for properties such as Digimon, Medabots and Totally Spies.

For further details and information about the latest Fox Kids Europe press releases:

• Fox Kids Europe N.V. announces audited results for the fifteen months ended September 30, 2002 and unaudited results for the year ended June 30, 2002
  December 18, 2002
• Fox Kids Europe appoints Bruce Steinberg as new Chief Executive Officer
  December 17, 2002
• Fox Kids Europe launches Fox Kids Cup 2003
  January 3, 2003

For further information please contact:
Louise Drabwell
Corporate Communications Department
Fox Kids Europe Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7554 9000
Fax: +44 (0)20 7554 9144
Email: Louise.Drabwell@foxkidseurope.com
Website: http://www.foxkidseurope.com or http://www.foxkidscupinfo.com/

LUSAKA, 26 August 2003 – In one of the biggest health campaigns in Zambia’s history, nearly 5 million children between the ages of 6 months and 14 years were successfully vaccinated against measles. During a Measles Campaign Awards ceremony on 21 August, the Minister of Health, Dr. Brian Chituwo, announced that 4,955,647 children had been immunized, representing coverage of 108 per cent (Target: 4,600,916). The National Measles Campaign, which was held from 7-13 June, is part of a larger global effort to halve the number of measles deaths by 2005.

Through the efforts of 17,710 committed volunteers at 3,795 vaccination posts, all types of transport were used, including bicycles, canoes and ox carts, to reach inaccessible rural areas. One of the major challenges of the campaign was to persuade resistant religious communities in remote parts of the country to vaccinate their children. This was possible due to the partnerships formed with traditional leaders, administrative authorities, the Church, NGO leaders, and the military.

For this campaign, the country embarked on an intensified strategy to save the lives of Zambia’s children by applying an integrated approach that also focuses on vitamin A supplementation, deworming and malaria prevention. As a result, 1,864,818 children between the ages of 6-59 months received vitamin A supplementation (Target: 1,713,923; Coverage: 109 per cent) and 1,650,491 children between the ages of 1-5 years were dewormed (Target: 1,528,745; Coverage: 108 per cent).

In Zambia, malaria, in addition to measles, is one of the major killers of children. Every year, approximately 60,000 Zambians die from malaria, 90 per cent are children under-5. A total of 75,000 Permanets were distributed after measles vaccination to every 6-59 month old child in five districts in Eastern and Northern Provinces. The Permanet bednets are preferred over ordinary nets as the insecticide coverage lasts for 2-3 years without retreatment. Consequently, more than 80 per cent of the households in the five districts received Permanets. Before the measles campaign, approximately 800,000 nets were in use in Zambia, representing coverage of 27 per cent.

Overall, the support for the National Measles Campaign was unprecedented. The major partners were the Ministry of Health/Central Board of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Home Affairs, religious organizations, NGOs, community-based organizations, media, Zambian Red Cross, International Federation of the Red Cross, CIDA, DFID, JICA, UN Foundation, UNICEF, USAID, WHO and The Right to Play.  Private sector partners donated media messages and logistical and social mobilization support.

To galvanize support from all sectors and at all levels, advocacy meetings were held all over the country. As a result, a vibrant and visible national social mobilization campaign was developed. Athlete ambassadors recruited by The Right to Play, such as the famous Zambian football player, Kalusha Bwalya, reinforced key health messages on billboards and posters. In some areas, play stations were set up at the vaccination posts where children could play games that focused on the importance of immunization. The local media aired radio jingles and TV spots and the public was bombarded with information in various forms on the campaign. Inter-personal communication was particularly effective at community level.

Planning, strategic partnerships and efficient management of the mass immunization measles campaign were critical to its success, as well as a proactive approach to problems encountered during the campaign. Expressing her appreciation to the Government and partners, the UNICEF Representative, Dr. Stella Goings noted that:

“The National Measles Campaign is a major achievement for Zambia and will serve as an example for future health campaigns. It has laid the groundwork for accelerating measles control and ultimately reducing measles mortality. The challenge before us now is to maintain high coverage in Zambia through a strengthened routine immunization programme.”

UNICEF provided/supported:

• 7,178,000 measles vaccine doses
• 6,028,000 vitamin A capsules
• 2,000,000 doses of mebendazole
• 6,319,300 auto-destruct syringes
• 726,000 syringes and needles for vaccine reconstitution
• 90,475 safety boxes
• 6,000 vaccine carriers
• 22,500 aprons
• Production and printing of posters, banners, information kits, leaflets and car stickers.

Funding:

• Cold chain equipment (Japanese Government and JICA)
• Permanets (CIDA)
• Social mobilization (USAID through Zambia Integrated Health Programme)
• Documentation (DFID)
• Aprons, training, transport and social mobilization activities at district and provincial levels (UN Foundation)
• Production of IEC materials and media campaign (International Federation of the Red Cross).

****

For further information, please contact:

Edita Nsubuga, Communication Officer, UNICEF Zambia;
tel: 260 1 252055; fax: 260 1 253389;
cell: 260 97 759373; e-mail: ensubuga@unicef.org.

Eugenia Temba, Snr. Communication Assistant, UNICEF Zambia;
tel: 260 1 254265; fax: 260 1 253389;
cell: 260 97 846692; e-mail: etemba@unicef.org.

MONROVIA, 29 AUGUST 2003 - The first mass immunization measles campaign following the cessation of hostilities in Liberia will be launched today in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, by UNICEF and its partners.   Tubmanburg is a base of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), one of the two rebel groups in Liberia, and is home to thousands of displaced persons, the majority of whom are women and children, from Gbarpolu and Lofa Counties.

While Bomi County has been largely inaccessible for immunization services since the end of February 2003, Gparpolu and Lofa Counties have had no access to immunization since 2000.

The seven-day campaign in Tubmanburg is targeting 42,000 children, aged between six months and 15 years.  Three mobile immunization teams will administer the measles vaccines. Children aged six months to five years will also receive Vitamin A to help build up resistance against diseases such as measles, respiratory tract infection, and diarrhoea.

To ensure the success of the campaign. UNICEF has enlisted the support of opinion leaders and health workers in Tubmanburg in the mobilization and sensitization of the local population.
“Children have the right to basic health care and we will go wherever they are to help improve their situation and conditions,” said UNICEF Liberia Representative, Dr. Cyrille Niameogo. “This immunization campaign in a rebel held area is a significant step to try to reach all the Liberian children outside Monrovia. Together with WHO, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and our other partners, we will extend immunization and other services to other areas as security permits.”

The decision to implement an emergency measles campaign follows an interagency assessment mission to Tubmanburg earlier in the week when the team observed the precarious health situation and learned about the outbreak of measles in the area.
*  *  *
For further information, please contact
Durudee Sirichanya, Communication Officer,
UNICEF Liberia, dsirichanya@unicef.org 06-524978

MacArthur S. Hill, Programme Communication Officer,
UNICEF Liberia, mhill@unicef.org 06-524978

UNICEF chief says that restoring education in the wake of war will be “an anchor for the children and parents of Liberia”

MONROVIA/NEW YORK/GENEVA, 26 September 2003 - UNICEF today urged the war-weary people of Liberia to fully support the campaign to return Liberian children to school.

Speaking from New York, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said that campaigns to draw children back to school in other post-conflict countries had served as “symbols of sanity and promise amidst the ruin of war” for millions of children and their parents around the world.

UNICEF is in the middle of a rapid assessment of Liberia’s schools and other locations used for teaching children. Anecdotal reports suggest that the vast majority of Liberia’s schools are in need of rehabilitation. One UNICEF officer in Monrovia said that she has “yet to see a school that doesn’t need some form of rehabilitation.”

Hundreds of schools have been damaged or destroyed by fighting, or occupied by Liberian families fleeing fighting. Thousands of tonnes of school furniture, doors, roofs and window-frames have been burned for cooking fuel by those displaced from their homes.

Even before the war almost half of all school-age children were not enrolled in classes, while girls made up less than half the number of boys at the primary school level. Only a quarter of Liberian women can read, and only two in five men.

UNICEF has supported back-to-school campaigns for children in Rwanda, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Angola and, most recently, Iraq where the continuing conflict has underscored the importance of safe and stable educational environments for children.

“Children who are educated are better equipped for the future, and less vulnerable to those who would have them take up arms,” said Bellamy.

The use of child-soldiers has been a scourge in Liberia since the early 1990s, when former president Charles Taylor pioneered their systematic use in conflict.

“Although our immediate priorities are clean water and the nutritional status of children, Liberians need the encouragement to look to the future,” said Bellamy. “Functioning, regular classrooms will be an anchor for the children and parents of Liberia in an uncertain flow of events.”

The Liberian Ministry of Education has outlined plans to support all children who can be reached in secure areas to return to school by 20 October. The $6 million campaign aims to reach 750,000 children in phases.

UNICEF and partners are supporting the campaign by supplying basic educational materials for teachers and pupils, schools and ‘learning spaces’; strengthening the Ministry of Education (which was extensively looted); mobilizing parents and communities to enrol children; and encouraging the education of girls to address the imbalance of girls and boys attending school.

UNICEF is framing plans for the demobilization and re-integration of thousands of Liberian child-soldiers.

Major donors for the effort to restore basic rights to education and health for Liberia’s children include (millions): Canada ($0.37), Ireland ($0.27), Japan ($3.1), Netherlands ($0.5), Norway ($0.22), Sweden ($0.58), UK ($1.2), US ($1.6), and UNICEF Natcoms.

* * * *

For further information, please contact:

Durudee Sirichanya, UNICEF Liberia, + 231 226138/226141
dsirichanya@unicef.org

Margherita Amodeo, UNICEF regional office West Africa,
+ 225 2020 8101 mamodeo@unicef.org

Damien Personnaz, UNICEF Geneva, +41– 22 909–5716
dpersonnaz@unicef.org

Gordon Weiss, UNICEF New York, +1–212–326-7426
gweiss@unicef.org

Halloween 2003 to Hold More Treats than Tricks for Children around the World

NEW YORK, 27 October 2003 - Good ideas often have humble beginnings. Such is the story of “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF,” which started in 1950 when a group of young trick-or-treaters went door-to-door on Halloween with their pastor in Philadelphia.  At each door, they not only opened their bags for candy, but held out empty milk cartons to collect coins for children in need overseas. They collected $17 and sent it to UNICEF. The result was much bigger than those children ever imagined.

Today, Halloween means more than candy, costumes, ghosts, and goblins. It means vaccines, clean water, and improved nutrition for less fortunate children. It means educating our children about the importance of multi-culturalism and community values. “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF” is a full-year program that provides youth leadership opportunities even after Halloween.

Since 1950, “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF” has been responsible for bringing new meaning to Halloween. Through the years, the children of the United States have raised more than $119 million to help build a better future for children around the globe.

“When we were learning about UNICEF, I realized that I actually make a difference and that I have the power to save another child’s life,” said Caitlin, a 7th grade student. “Children can help children and that’s why I took part in helping to save lives with UNICEF.”

Here are some examples of how a little money can go a long way:

• Just $1 protects a child from polio for life. Once at epidemic proportions in the United States claiming some 50,000 victims annually in the 1950s, today polio still strikes children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
• Additionally, $1 immunizes one child against the deadly disease measles. Measles claims more children’s lives each year than wars, famines, and natural disasters combined.
• $2 can provide 66 children with vitamin A capsules for a year. Vitamin A protects children from permanent blindness, helps them grow strong and protects against certain types of infections.
• Just $2.46 can buy school supplies, such as pencils, books, chalk, slate board and paper for one child for one year.
• Just $9 buys a pack of 200 water purification tablets. Five million Iraqis already lack access to safe water. Drinking unsafe water can lead to diarrheal diseases, which kills 1.5 million children each year.

“One of the greatest benefits of ‘Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF’ is that it gives American children a wonderful opportunity to learn about the world around them,” said Charles J. Lyons, president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. “And when American children ‘Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF,’ they are literally helping to save other children’s lives.”

To help promote the American tradition of “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF” this year, we have the support of corporations such as Procter & Gamble, Pier 1 Imports, IKEA, TIME For Kids, and Coinstar.

The 53-year tradition of “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF” offers children the chance to gain a meaningful experience during Halloween festivities, while still having fun. By carrying the orange UNICEF collection box, children in the United States raise money to help children in need worldwide, and, in the process, learn the important role they can play in helping each other.

For further information, please contact:

Marissa Buckanoff, U.S. Fund for UNICEF Media, (212) 922-2485
Craig Causer, U.S. Fund for UNICEF Media, (212) 922-2517