December 3, 2008
U.S. Fund for UNICEF board member Amy Robbins visits Niger to review progress for women and children
Zouley Yahaya has renewed hope and a new goal in life. Some time ago, she bought a goat for 70 dollars. Now, through a UNICEF-supported program, she expects to sell it for at least double the amount she paid. Yahaya, age 40, is one of the 25 women in the village of Rafoua that is benefiting from a micro–credit program which aims to reduce food insecurity, as well as improve health and social status, especially among women and children.
December 1, 2008
From remote villages to bustling cities: Educating Indonesians about HIV
It is before dawn as a UNICEF outreach team departs on a bumpy six-hour drive up a steep mountain road to the remote village of Imbenti. The goal is to bring lifesaving information about HIV/AIDS to the approximately 100 families who are living in the Arfak Mountains of West Papua. In the past, the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS in such a small, rural community was not seen as very high. However, many young people are now leaving the village to further their schooling.
November 26, 2008
Villagers still struggling to rebuild lives after devastating Bihar floods
Dinesh Mandal knew he had to get his family to higher ground when the Kosi River rose over it's banks and surged towards his village. He tried desperately to lift his 10-year-old daughter, Rekha, up onto an elevated railroad track, but he lost his grip and she was swept away in the raging flood waters. "Her hand slipped and she was just washed away in the current," Mandal explained, sadly. "I couldn't do anything."
November 24, 2008
Thousands of schools closed in eastern DR Congo
Fighting in the North Kivu province of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has caused massive disruptions in schooling for hundreds of thousands of children. Throughout the province, thousands of schools are closed. Many schools are now occupied by displaced people. UNICEF estimates that 60 percent of the newly displaced people are children. Since late August, over 250,000 people have fled conflict, bringing the total number of displaced in the province to over 1 million.
November 24, 2008
Darfur: Walking and talking with children of conflict
At the water pump she tentatively walks over to me, past the other boys and girls, and takes my hand. The small four-year-old girl seems surprised and perplexed by the fact that my hand is soft like her own, and she beams with delight as she bravely entwines her fingers around mine. At her tender age there is no doubt that the life she has experienced so far has been that of an internally displaced person in one of El Fasher's three main camps.
