More Needs To Be Done To Protect Children From HIV/AIDS, Poverty, Conflict, Outgoing UNICEF Director Bellamy Says
Outgoing UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy on Wednesday said "much more" needs to be done to protect children, especially from HIV/AIDS, conflict and poverty, the AP/Scotsman reports (Linton, AP/Scotsman, 4/28). Bellamy, who will step down as executive director of UNICEF on Saturday after 10 years in the position, will be succeeded by former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman (Bloomberg News, 4/27). "More than a billion children, nearly half of all children alive today, are living in extreme poverty and are effectively being robbed of childhood by the triple threat of AIDS, conflict and poverty," Bellamy said, adding, "It is essential that we invest more in the health, well-being and protection of children. ... We are moving in a positive direction when it comes to children, but it has not been nearly enough. I am the first to say I wish we had achieved more for children over the past 10 years" (AP/Scotsman, 4/28). Bellamy said she does not see the agency undergoing a "major shift of emphasis" under Veneman, adding, "You don't bring your national agenda, you don't bring your government's agenda, you bring UNICEF's agenda, and that is what I expect from [Veneman]" (Linton, Associated Press, 4/27). Veneman in January said, "I come with an agenda of helping children, particularly in the areas of education and health and to address the issues of hunger and malnutrition" (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/19). Bellamy said that UNICEF later this year plans to launch a global campaign to fight HIV/AIDS among children. "Every part of the world needs to do more today about HIV/AIDS," she said (Associated Press, 4/27).
Christian Science Monitor Profiles Bellamy
The Christian Science Monitor on Friday profiled Bellamy, whose approach to her position "highlighted a new holistic focus on children's health." Bellamy demanded that the 192 signatories of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child recognize that children have a right to grow up "in health, dignity and peace," free from HIV/AIDS, poverty and conflict (Jordan, Christian Science Monitor, 4/29). The complete article is available online.