Sudan
Polio campaigner among child soldiers

afrol.com, 21 October - UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy began a four-day visit to Sudan and Kenya today during which she will help launch polio immunization efforts in both countries.

Further, Bellamy will visit a rehabilitation program for former child soldiers, tour feeding centres and new water installations in drought-stricken areas, and speak with children, women, local officials and national leaders in a region troubled both by conflict and natural disaster. 

Child being immunized. Photo: Marcel Crozet/WHO.

Bellamy's trip coincides with important national polio immunization campaigns in Sudan and Kenya. In Sudan, the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) have announced "Days of Tranquillity" to allow the polio campaign to go forward in all areas of the country. Bellamy will help kick-off the campaign in Khartoum and will later visit immunization activities in southern Sudan and northern Kenya. She will be joined by Michel Greco, President and Chief Operating Officer of Aventis Pasteur, a leading supplier of polio vaccine for the global eradication campaign.

Bellamy will also visit areas of southern Sudan where humanitarian aid is provided by Operation Lifeline Sudan, a UN-led consortium of relief organizations operating in southern Sudan. During this portion of her trip, Bellamy will visit a rehabilitation centre for former child soldiers, as well as a UNICEF-supported school and a vocational training centre.

In northern Kenya, Bellamy will focus on drought-relief activities, including visits to a feeding centre for malnourished children and a new water facility developed with UNICEF support. As the drought crisis enters its eighth month, Bellamy hopes to draw renewed attention to the desperate circumstances facing children across the region. UNICEF estimates that 70 per cent of all those hurt by the drought are children and women. 

- Children in some parts of Sudan and Kenya are really on the brink - threatened by war, drought and disease, Bellamy said. "This trip is an important reminder of how far the world still has to go in caring for its youngest citizens."

Ms. Bellamy's trip - which began with her arrival on Friday night - will encompass stops and activities in:

Khartoum, Saturday 21 October 
* Meet with top officials, including Vice President and Minister of Health 
* Launch national immunization days for polio
* Meeting with First Lady, followed by press conference

Malakal (Upper Nile State), Sunday 22 October 
* Take part in polio immunizations for children 
* Tour mother & child health centre; visit anti-malaria programme
* Meet with local women involved in grassroots peace-building 

Rumbek (southern Sudan), Sunday 22 October 
* Launch polio campaign in the south
* Visit young people at rehabilitation centre for former child soldiers
* Tour education and training projects supported by UNICEF
* Meetings and reception with local authorities and relief groups

Lokichokio (northern Kenya), Monday 23 October
* Tour polio immunization locations with Minister of Public Health
* Visit UNICEF drought-relief activities in outlying villages 
* Visit with women's group that makes bed-nets for preventing malaria

Nairobi, Tuesday 24 October
* Meetings with senior government officials, including President Moi 
* Press conference

Source: UNICEF

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