UNICEF has formally released an anniversary report on the aid it has offered to the earthquake devastated area in China over the past year.
The report details UNICEF's cooperation with the Chinese government in helping the earthquake hit areas by providing education, sanitation, nutrition, clean water, environmental sanitation, mental support, child protection, HIV/AIDs prevention, and social policies for children in these areas following the May 12 Earthquake in 2008.
The report says that UNICEF has provided emergency material aid worth about USD20 million to the earthquake affected areas as well as materials and services needed for post-earthquake reconstruction. It says that to date, UNICEF has implemented aid programs in 29 districts and counties in the three Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi over the past year, working closely with the central government and the local governments and this has benefited about 2.5 million children and four million women.
Dr. Yin Yin Nwe, the representative of UNICEF in China, said that the devastating earthquake of last year had brought serious damage to the regions affected. Though the Chinese government has done its best to relieve the disaster, there are still many families that need help to resume their normal life. Dr. Yin Yin Nwe stated that UNICEF would continue its support of the Chinese government's efforts in disaster relief and focus on meeting the demands of children and women. It is understood that UNICEF will continue its support to the earthquake areas until 2011.
UNICEF has attached great importance to the utility of the emergent aid and has issued reports on this periodically. Dr. Yin Yin Nwe stated that all the funding for UNICEF comes from voluntary donations and is used to meet the needs of children.
To date, UNICEF has received a total of USD37 million in fund donations and it aims to make the total donations reach USD45 million to fund its middle and long term aid programs in Wenchuan which was most badly hit by the earthquake.
