UNICEF director visits region

The Executive Director of UNICEF, Carol Bellamy, arrived in South Africa on Thursday at the start of a 14-day reginal tour.

In a statement, UNICEF said she will also visit Namibia, Mozambique and Burundi to meet politicians, visit UNICEF projects, and address issues facing young people in the continent.

"I hope this trip will help bring attention to the enormous challenges facing the children and young people of Africa," Bellamy said in New York before her departure. "Children are the nucleus of sustainable global development, which makes it crucial that those who are committed to human progress take a close look at the well-being of children. That's what this
trip is about."

According to UNICEF, Bellamy will discuss issues ranging from the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, poverty, gender discrimination and conflicts in Africa with national leaders in these countries.

In Namibia, UNICEF said one in five adults is believed to be infected with HIV/AIDS, while South Africa, 61 percent of children under 16 live in poverty. Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world, is ranked 10th in the world in under-five mortality rates while conflict has left thousands of Burundians homeless, the statement said. It recalled, that for
the first time in the agency's 54 years, a high-ranking UNICEF country official in Burundi was killed by rebels.

Bellamy has been UNICEF's chief for five years, during which she has visited 20 African countries. Her visit comes shortly after a month-long focus on Africa by the UN Security Council, which emphasised humanitarian concerns in the continent and brought under the spotlight the educational, health and protection issues that face the development and well-being of Africa's
children.