CONGO: UNICEF DIRECTOR VISITS DRC TO PROMOTE POLIO VACCINATIONS AND CHILDREN'S RIGHTS.

Record ID: 343040

  • Title: CONGO: UNICEF DIRECTOR VISITS DRC TO PROMOTE POLIO VACCINATIONS AND CHILDREN'S RIGHTS.
  • Date: 20th September 1999
  • Summary: LUBUMBASHI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (SEPTEMBER 17, 1999) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 2. GV/SV: CONVOY ARRIVES UNICEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CAROL BELLAMY SHAKING HANDS WITH OFFICIALS (2 SHOTS) 0.17 3. MV/PAN: PAN FROM UNICEF CAR TO DELEGATION 0.23 4. GV/CU: DRC FLAG (2 SHOTS) 0.31 5. GV: BELLAMY GETTING INTO CAR; DRIVEN OFF (2 SHOTS0 0.
  • Embargoed: 5th October 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LUBUMBASHI, CONGO
  • City:
  • Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of
  • Reuters ID: LVA9Y2SFRFT894O5Y7SWOVWU93MZ
  • Story Text: UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy has made a
    brief visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to promote
    polio vaccinations, and urged government and rebel factions to
    protect children's rights.

    It's thought there have been no polio vaccinations in
    the Congo for at least 20 years.The disease, which mostly
    strikes children below the age of five and cripples and
    sometimes kills, has been all but eradicated in many other
    parts of the globe.There is no cure for the disease - but it
    can be prevented.

    The round of vaccinations started on Friday (September 17)
    was the second, after the initial drive was disrupted by
    fighting in August.

    An uneasy truce between government forces loyal to
    embattled Congolese President Laurent Kabila and Ugandan and
    Rwandan-backed rebels fighting to oust him is unravelling,with
    both sides accusing the other of ceasefire violations.

    An estimated 10 million Congolese children under the age
    of five have been targetted in the vaccination drive.Congo
    has not had a census in recent years and so no one knows how
    many children there are in Africa's third largest country.

    Thousands of people lined the streets to cheer Bellamy.

    Cultural troupes dressed in traditional regalia danced, while
    school choirs sang in what Congolese officials described as a
    major celebration of the polio vaccine.

    Bellamy said she wanted government and rebel forces to
    respect the ceasefire agreed in the Zambian capital Lusaka,
    and to negotiate a peaceful settlement to their conflict so
    the children could be allowed to grow up in peace.

    She called for the protection of children's rights, saying
    too many of them were drafted into war, and were often forced
    to be military messengers or sex slaves.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register