Nov 20, 2009
World's worst place to be born
GENEVA - EIGHT years after a US-led invasion ousted the Taleban from power in Afghanistan, the war-ravaged state is the most dangerous place in the world for a child to be born, the United Nations said on Thursday. It is especially dangerous for girls, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) said in launching its annual flagship report, The State of the World's Children. Afghanistan has the highest infant mortality rate in the world - 257 deaths per 1,000 live births, and 70 per cent of the population lacks access to clean water, the agency said. As Taleban insurgents increase their presence across the country, growing insecurity is also making it hard to carry out vital vaccination campaigns against polio, a crippling disease still endemic in the country, and measles that can kill children. 'Afghanistan today is without a doubt the most dangerous place to be born,' Daniel Toole, Unicef regional director for South Asia, told a news briefing in Geneva. A Taleban-led insurgency and militant attack on an international guest-house in Kabul that killed five UN foreign staff last month prompted the world body to evacuate hundreds of international staff from Afghanistan for several weeks. Some 43 per cent of the country is now virtually off-limits to aid agencies due to insecurity, according to Mr Toole. The Taleban have been building their forces in their traditional southern and eastern Afghanistan stronghold and are increasing attacks in the north and west. Teaching girls is one of the practices they forbid. Some 317 schools in Afghanistan were attacked in the past year, killing 124 and wounding another 290, Mr Toole said. 'We have seen a drop in the number of children who are attending schools and particularly young girls,' he added. -- REUTERS
World's worst place to be born
GENEVA - EIGHT years after a US-led invasion ousted the Taleban from power in Afghanistan, the war-ravaged state is the most dangerous place in the world for a child to be born, the United Nations said on Thursday. It is especially dangerous for girls, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) said in launching its annual flagship report, The State of the World's Children. Afghanistan has the highest infant mortality rate in the world - 257 deaths per 1,000 live births, and 70 per cent of the population lacks access to clean water, the agency said. As Taleban insurgents increase their presence across the country, growing insecurity is also making it hard to carry out vital vaccination campaigns against polio, a crippling disease still endemic in the country, and measles that can kill children. 'Afghanistan today is without a doubt the most dangerous place to be born,' Daniel Toole, Unicef regional director for South Asia, told a news briefing in Geneva. A Taleban-led insurgency and militant attack on an international guest-house in Kabul that killed five UN foreign staff last month prompted the world body to evacuate hundreds of international staff from Afghanistan for several weeks. Some 43 per cent of the country is now virtually off-limits to aid agencies due to insecurity, according to Mr Toole. The Taleban have been building their forces in their traditional southern and eastern Afghanistan stronghold and are increasing attacks in the north and west. Teaching girls is one of the practices they forbid. Some 317 schools in Afghanistan were attacked in the past year, killing 124 and wounding another 290, Mr Toole said. 'We have seen a drop in the number of children who are attending schools and particularly young girls,' he added. -- REUTERS
