From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 12 Oct 92 09:32 PDT
Subject: CHILDREN: Millions worldwide ravage
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700621:000:5103
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Oct 12 09:32:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: CHILDREN: Millions worldwide ravage

/* Written 12:12 am  Oct 12, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: CHILDREN: Millions worldwide ravaged by war/SERIES/

an inter press service feature

by victor ego ducrot

geneva, oct 9 (ips) -- the fate of hundreds of thousands of
children endangered by war, food shortages and cold, in war-torn
bosnia-hercegovina dominated talks during a two-week united
nations forum which ended here friday.

but officials later made the point that the plight of the
hundreds of thousands of other children suffering across the world
will also continue to get their attention.

egyptian hoda badran, president of the conference for the
united nations committee for children's rights, acknowledged that
the committee had indeed paid special attention to the situation
in bosnia-hercegovina, owing ''to the need for aid that is felt
there''.

but she also acknowledged that there are regions in the third
world suffering ''similar or worse'' tragedies and so the
committee had prepared a final document in which it assures that
somalia and other african regions will continue to get attention,
and aid similar to that asked for ex-yugoslavia.

according to badran, the lives of 1.3 million children in the
former yugoslav republic are threatened by the civil war and
winter cold. badran also reported that at least 1,500 children
under the age of 15 have already been killed, and 30,000 injured
since the outbreak of ethnic unrest in the balkan region, six
months ago.

these statistics are based on reports reaching the united
nations childrens fund (unicef), the international committee for
the red cross (icrc), the united nations high commission for
refugees (unhcr) and the world health organisation (who).

according to icrc representative to the committee yves sandoz,
28 percent of those in imminent danger of death in the besieged
capital of sarajevo, are under the age of 15.

cornelio samaruga, icrc general director, predicted that
overall 400,000 people could die from hunger, cold or the military
attacks directed at the city, if the hostilities continue when
winter sets in. (more/ips)

children: millions worldwide ravaged by war/series/(2-e)

children: millions (2)

the committee, made up of independent experts from the member
countries of the u.n., met in geneva between sep 28 and oct 9,
under the auspices of unicef and the u.n. human rights centre.

haris silajdzic, the minister of foreign relations of bosnia-
hercegovina, told ips that even these grave statistics do not
reflect the true dimension of the horrors endured by the children
of bosnia, despite the efforts of u.n. humanitarian agencies.

silajdzic also represents the elected government of bosnia-
hercegovina in the peace talks held in geneva as part of the
conference on the ex-yugoslavia, under the auspices of the u.n.
and the european community (ec).

''we have information that at least 230,000 bosnian children
perished as a result of serbian attacks on sarajevo, and another
two million will suffer the same fate if the international
community does not stop the war,'' silajdzic claimed.

according to the bosnian minister, the deaths are a direct
result of the ''rain'' of artillery fire over sarajevo, which
caused ''the city to regress into the stone age''.

''we have no running water or electricity, all the hospitals in
sarajevo have been hit by bombs, there are no medical supplies,
and the population only has enough food left for one week,'' he
declared.

according to a report presented to a unicef report presented to
the meeting, 900,000 bosnian children are already suffering from
war-related psychological problems, and more than 150,000 could
sustain permanent brain damage.

badran complained of the lack of financial aid offered to the
international humanitarian agencies working in the ex-yugoslavia.
unicef, which reported that it needed a 13-million dollar budget
for food and medical aid to bosnia-hercegovina, has so far
received only three million dollars.

last tuesday, donald acheson, representative of the world
health organisation (who) in zagreb, capital of neighbouring
croatia, stated in geneva that this organisation alone needs 40
million dollars to help victims of the war in bosnia-hercegovina.

the committee recommended to the u.n. and its member states
that a body be created to investigate the situation of children in
the whole world, which should report back to the general assembly
so that it can take effective measures to protect the children.

according to unicef, over 200,000 children in somalia were
killed by bullets or hunger as a result of the civil war in this
country. u.n. statistics say that the mortality rate of children
under the age of five in somalia is 215 per thousand, and that 4.6
million of the country's 7.5 million inhabitants are affected by
the war.(end/ips/pr-ip/ved/ego/trd/mv/cpg/92)