Long road to recovery in Haiti

Long road to recovery in Haiti

The earthquake that struck Haiti six months ago was a modern-day disaster that gripped the attention of the entire world, says UNICEF NZ in an article published today (22 July, 2010) in the Otago Daily Times.

More than 220,000 people were killed and over 300,000 injured in the 7.0 earthquake that also damaged up to 300,000 houses.

In the article, UNICEF NZ Executive Director, Dennis McKinlay, says that with almost half the population aged under 18, the quake was an unprecedented children’s emergency.

“UNICEF played a leading co-ordination role in emergency areas like nutrition, education, child protection, and water, sanitation and health.”

Mr McKinlays says that significant progress has been made, including the provision of water to 1.2 million daily, 11,000 latrines, and nutrition programmes for 550,000 lactating women and children under 5. In education, half a million children have been provided with basic education materials, more than 1,300 school tents distributed, and special training given to 5,300 teachers and education personnel.

Read the full Otago Daily Times article: http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/117086/long-road-haitian-recovery

Find out more about UNICEF’s humanitarian aid response in Haiti:
http://www.unicef.org.nz/page/22/HaitiEmergency.html

ENDS

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