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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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May 23rd,
2007 - UNICEF Pleas for Iraq Children |
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UNICEF Pleas for Iraq Children United Press International May 23, 2007 United Nations - Amid calls
for increased U.N. involvement in Iraq, UNICEF plans to help Iraq's
"most vulnerable children" but needs $42 million to do so. The U.N. Children's Fund
Wednesday said children in the war-torn nation are at a critical point and
the $42 million is only good enough to help Iraq's children for six months in
their homeland and in neighboring Jordan and Syria. "Humanitarian aid
offers a lifeline to Iraq's children and stepping up support now is the best
way to protect and invest in Iraq's future," said Daniel Toole, acting
deputy executive director of UNICEF and chief of emergency operations. "Plans are in place to
reach Iraq's most vulnerable children with basic health, water, sanitation
and education support, particularly displaced children living in host
communities, as well as children living in Iraq's most violent
districts," he said. Toole told reporters there
are 4 million displaced persons in Iraq and neighboring nations, a population
equal to that of Ireland or the U.S. state of Connecticut; half of them are
children, and two-thirds of those have no clean water. School attendance has dropped
from 70 percent to 30 percent because parents hold pupils back from school
out of fear of violence or there are not enough teachers because many stay
home for safety's sake or have become part of Iraq's brain-drain problem, he
said. The United Nations
substantially pulled out of Iraq after the August 2003 bombing of its Baghdad
headquarters that killed 22 people, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top
U.N. envoy. The United Nations has been cautiously increasing its presence
since. External link: http://tinyurl.com/2bstaz |