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Tag: Anthony Lake

  • WHO, UNICEF laud $1.2bn polio eradication fund for Nigeria, others

    WHO, UNICEF laud $1.2bn polio eradication fund for Nigeria, others

    The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have commended the 1.2 billion dollars funding initiative to eradicate polio disease in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

    UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, and WHO Director-General, Margaret Chan, gave the commendations as global health leaders reaffirmed their commitment to fund the eradication of polio in the countries.

    The major pledges included 75 million dollars from Canada, 61.4 million dollars from the European Commission, 55 million dollars from Japan, and 30 million dollars from Sheikh Mohamed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

    Others pledges were 30 million dollars from the Dalio Foundation, 25 million dollars from Bloomberg Philanthropies, 15 million dollars from an anonymous donor, and 13.4 million dollars from Australia.

    There were also 11.2 million dollars from Germany, five million dollars each from EasyJet and Italy while the Republic of Korea pledged four million dollars.

    The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a public-private partnership dedicated to ending the disease, announced the pledges at the Rotary Convention in Atlanta.

    Lake said “today’s funding commitments will enable the programme to continue to improve performance and overcome challenges to reach every child, including vaccinating children in conflict areas.

    “We are truly on the verge of eradicating polio from the planet, but only if we work relentlessly to reach the children we have not yet reached.

    “We cannot fail to make this last effort.

    “If we do not now make history, we will be judged harshly by history’’.

    The UNICEF chief commended efforts towards ending the disease, saying polio has been eliminated from some of the most remote and challenging areas in the world.

    “For example, India, once considered the most difficult place in the world to stop the disease, hasn’t reported a case in more than six years.

    “No fewer than 16 million children worldwide, who would otherwise have been paralysed by the disease, are walking today,’’ he said.

    Similarly, Chan pointed out that polio resources in countries around the world were helping to advance other national health goals.

    “The key to ending polio will be to ensure that millions of health workers, some of whom work in the most challenging environments in the world, are able to reach every child, everywhere in the world,’’ Chan said.

    She noted that eradicating polio would be a perpetual gift to coming generations.

    “Today’s contributions and the continued commitment of all donors and partners will help end this devastating disease.

    “It will also ensure that the infrastructure and assets used to fight polio lay the foundation for better health outcomes for children everywhere for years to come.’’

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that financing of polio eradication has been remarkably successful over the past years.

    Between 1988 and 2013, donors have voluntarily contributed more than 9.5 billion dollars to polio eradication.

  • UNICEF mourns Popular actor, Roger Moore

    UNICEF mourns Popular actor, Roger Moore

    The death of the popular British actor, Roger Moore has been described as a great lost.

    United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF)  Executive Director,  Anthony Lake stated that the world has lost a great champions for Children.
    Moore until his death was UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

    In a statement made available Tuesday in Abuja, UNICEF stated that “with the passing of Sir Roger Moore, the world has lost one of its great champions for children – and the entire UNICEF family has lost a great friend.”

    In his most famous roles as an actor, Sir Roger was the epitome of cool sophistication; but in his work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, he was a passionate – and highly persuasive – advocate for children. He once said that it was up to all of us to give children a more peaceful future. Together with Lady Kristina, he worked very hard to do so.

    “All of us at UNICEF extend our deepest sympathies to the Moore family, and join his many friends and admirers from around the world in paying tribute to his life and mourning his loss. He will be deeply missed.”

  • Boko Haram recruits 2,000 children – UNICEF

    Boko Haram recruits 2,000 children – UNICEF

    The terrorist Boko Haram group recruited about 2,000 children in 2016 and used them as child soldiers, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.

    UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, disclosed this as global leaders gather in Paris on the anniversary of the Paris Commitments to end the use of children in conflict, according to a UN report.

    Lake said estimates indicated that tens of thousands under the age of 18 were being used in conflicts worldwide.

    According to the UNICEF chief, exact data on the number of children used and recruited in armed conflict is difficult to ascertain because of the unlawful nature of child recruitment.

    “For instance, since 2013 an estimated 17,000 children have been recruited in South Sudan and up to 10,000 have been recruited in the Central African Republic (CAR).

    “Similarly, nearly 2,000 children were recruited by Boko Haram, in Nigeria and neighbouring countries, last year alone, and there have been nearly 1,500 cases of child recruitment in Yemen since the conflict escalated in March 2015.

    “We cannot give up the fight to end child recruitment,” the UNICEF chief said.

    According to him, even though over the past 10 years, more than 65,000 children have been released from armed forces and armed groups, tens of thousands of boys and girls under the age of 18 continue to be used in conflicts around the world.

    “It is not only about looking back at what has been accomplished  but looking forward to the work that remains to be done to support the children of war,” he said.

    Adopted 10 years ago, the Paris Commitments, together with the Paris Principles and Guidelines, lay out guidance for protecting children from recruitment and use by armed forces or armed groups.

    The Paris Agreement also assists the release of child soldiers and their reintegration, with other vulnerable children affected by armed conflict in their communities.

    “There has also been progress: since it was adopted, the number of countries endorsing the Paris commitments has nearly doubled from 58 countries in 2007 to 105 at present, signalling an increasing global commitment to end the use of children in conflict.

    “Globally, more than 65,000 children have been released from armed forces and armed groups, including 20,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

    “Nearly 9,000 in the Central African Republic; and over 1,600 children in Chad. But more needs to be done,” the UNICEF chief said.

    According to him, seeking to build on the current momentum, the Paris International Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Children in Armed Conflicts is urging for unconditional release of all children – without exception – and putting an end to child recruitment.

    “It is also calling for increased resources to help reintegrate and educate children who have been released, and urgent action to protect internally displaced children, child refugees and migrants.

    “As long as children are still affected by the fighting, we cannot give up the fight for the children,” Lake added. (NAN)

  • Boko Haram: children severely malnourished, at risk of death, says UNICEF

    Boko Haram: children severely malnourished, at risk of death, says UNICEF

    Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director, on Tuesday, said the brutal years of Boko Haram insurgency had left a devastating impact on the children in northeast Nigeria.

    Lake stated this in a statement issued on Tuesday in New York on the situation of children in northeast, Nigeria.

    “The violent conflict in northeast Nigeria has left children severely malnourished and at risk of death.

    “In the three worst-affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, farming has been disrupted and crops destroyed, food reserves depleted and often pillaged, and livestock killed or abandoned.

    “In Borno, where the fighting has been most brutal, 75 per cent of the water and sanitation infrastructure and 30 per cent of all health facilities have been destroyed, looted or damaged.

    “The impact on children is devastating.

    “We estimate that 400,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the next year in the three affected states,” he said.

    According to him, if the children do not receive the treatment they need, one in five  will die from cases of diarrhoea, malaria or pneumonia which are on the rise.

    “These figures represent only a fraction of the suffering. Large areas of Borno state are completely inaccessible to any kind of humanitarian assistance. We are extremely concerned about the children trapped in these areas.

    “We are making a difference in the areas we can reach. With the World Food Programme and other partners, we are treating acutely malnourished children.”

    He explained that UNICEF and other aid agencies and partners are vaccinating children against measles and polio and are providing safe water and sanitation services.

    “But this is nowhere close to enough.

    “Without adequate resources and without safe access, we and our partners will be unable to reach children whose lives are at imminent risk.

    “What is already a crisis can become a catastrophe,” the UNICEF chief said.