[Printer Friendly Version]   [How to E-mail This Article to A Friend]

AROUND THE WORLD 3: Plight of Zimbabwe Children

The United Nations Children's Fund’s (UNICEF) Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, spoke with reporters in Johannesburg, South Africa, on March 17.

Bellamy’s major concern was the lack of support for Zimbabwe’s children. Even though Zimbabwe has the greatest increase in child mortality and the fourth-highest HIV infection rate, it receives far less help than its neighbors, said Bellamy. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his political regime have some donors pulling their funding from the African country.

The donors’ concerns are not unfounded. According to Amnesty International in London, Grain Marketing Board, a government run organization, has been manipulating the distribution of food aid--mainly by denying opposition supporters access to the corn staple.

To make matters worse for the country, Zimbabwe receives no support from President Bush's initiative on AIDS or the World Bank's AIDS program for 2004-2005.

A child in Zimbabwe dies every 15 minutes from AIDS complications according to UNICEF statistics, and one in five children has lost at least one parent to AIDS. HIV-infected people in Zimbabwe receive only $4 in aid while the rest of the region receives approximately $74.

--Written by Teresa Liao

Write your own story telling us what you think about this article!

Read AROUND THE WORLD 4: New Memorial to Holocaust Victims