ONE YEAR ON, UNICEF CONTINUES SUPPORT TO CHINA’S QUAKE VICTIMS

ONE YEAR ON, UNICEF CONTINUES SUPPORT TO CHINA'S QUAKE VICTIMS
New York, May 12 2009 6:00PM
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is continuing its assistance to women and children in China's Sichuan province, as they seek to rebuild their lives after last year's devastating earthquake.

On 12 May 2008, the south-west Chinese province was hit by the country's worst earthquake in three decades. The quake, measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale, left nearly 100,000 people either dead or missing, and almost 400,000 injured.

It also damaged or destroyed millions of homes, leaving five million people homeless, and caused extensive damage to basic infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, roads, and water systems.

A new report released today in Beijing details how <"http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/china_49645.html">UNICEF has assisted the Government in education, health, nutrition, clean water, sanitation, psychosocial support, child protection, HIV/AIDS and social policies for children.

"The scale of the Sichuan earthquake was large and the Government of China has made tremendous progress in providing shelter for families, getting children back to school and repairing damaged infrastructure in the earthquake zone," said Dr. Yin Yin Nwe, UNICEF Representative for China.

"We will continue to support these efforts, with emphasis on children and women, as there are still many families who need assistance to return to their normal lives."

The agency has provided $20 million dollars for earthquake relief and recovery over the past year. Assistance has reached nearly 30 counties and districts across Sichuan, as well as Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, covering 2.5 million children and four million women. UNICEF plans to continue assistance for earthquake recovery through 2011.

About half of UNICEF's funds have supported health, water and sanitation interventions, while one third has gone toward helping children return to safe, well equipped, "child friendly" schools. The rest has supported child protection, psychosocial support, shelter and other costs.

"We were only able to respond as quickly and effectively as we did to support the Chinese Government's efforts in this emergency because of the swift and generous support of our donors," said Dr. Nwe.

UNICEF, which relies entirely on voluntary donations to help meet the needs of children, has received donations totalling $37 million so far. It is aiming to raise a total of $45 million to finance its medium- to long-term projects in the earthquake zone.
________________

BAN CALLS ON WORLD’S CITIZENS TO JOIN UN IN SENDING A MESSAGE ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged people everywhere to join the United Nations and millions of citizens around the world in sending a message to government leaders to protect the planet by switching off their lights for an hour tomorrow night.

The UN will flip off the light switch at 8:30pm at its landmark Headquarters in New York to observe "Earth Hour" on 28 March to raise awareness of climate change and mobilize nations to reach agreement on a for a new agreement later this year in Copenhagen on a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012.

"It promises to be the largest demonstration of public concern about climate change ever attempted," Mr. Ban said in a message marking the event.

By marking Earth Hour, people will send a message to their representatives to "seal a deal in Copenhagen" and reach a deal that will protect people and the planet," he noted. "We need an ambitious agreement. An agreement that is fair and effective. An agreement based on sound science."

The symbolic gesture will be observed by more than 1,000 cities and close to an estimated one billion people, who will turn off their non-essential lights for one hour starting at 8:30pm local time on Saturday.

This year, Earth Hour, which was launched two years ago in Australia by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), falls the day before 2009's first round of UN negotiations on new climate change agreement in Bonn, Germany. The talks, which are slated to wrap up on 8 April, will be the first of three sessions leading up to the Copenhagen talks in December.

"Let us use this unique opportunity to protect people and the planet. The United Nations is committed to this vision, but we need your support," stressed Mr. Ban. "Together, we can make a difference."
________________