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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Carol Bellamy
Aired April 19, 2003 - 09:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Much-needed aid is moving into Iraq as people deal with the aftermath of war. And it is the needs of children that are drawing much attention now.
Carol Bellamy is executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund. She is joining us now from New York.
Hello to you. Thanks for being here.
CAROL BELLAMY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND: Thank you.
COLLINS: Tell us, if you would, specifically, what other problems that the children of Iraq are facing?
BELLAMY: Well, there are multiple problems. Services have deteriorated in some places and don't exist in others. One of the major services is the availability of clean water. Without clean water, we are seeing an increase in diarrheal diseases, an increase in malnutrition. Many of the schools are not usable any more, so the kids can't go back to school. Some children have been actually hurt by the fighting itself. But probably more of them have been hurt by the psychological damage.
COLLINS: Any concern -- I would imagine certainly there is -- about the state of the hospitals and the children that are in those hospitals as we speak?
BELLAMY: There is concern. And again, one has to look differentially around the country. In the north, the hospitals are still functioning, for the most part. In Baghdad, however, the hospitals, while they still have some of the essential medicines, are very low on oxygen, so they're not able to do some of the work that they would otherwise have to do. They are overcrowded. They are having to bury bodies in their own gardens.
So the hospitals are in -- and, in some cases, they have been looted. So the hospitals are in very difficult condition, certainly in Baghdad.
COLLINS: Carol, I'm just wondering, kind of out of a left-field question here, looking at this video that we're seeing of these very young children. Would it be your organization that would help if there is any interest in getting children that may be orphaned new families? Would people contact you? Or is there any interest in that? BELLAMY: That would probably be done through others, although we have provided supplies to a number of the institutions that take care of orphans at this point. For many of them, they have extended families. What really needs to be done is to connect them perhaps with an aunt or a grandmother or perhaps not their immediate parents. That's probably better for them at this point.
COLLINS: Are you worried about the safety of these children?
BELLAMY: Yes, very worried about their safety, for a variety of reasons. Just basic health safety, worried about the continued lawlessness, worried about the fact that there are unexploded ordinances or land mines. And, as usual, children like to play with things, so that they're more likely to try and play with that.
And then worried because, in some cases, they have been separated from their families.
COLLINS: All right, Carol Bellamy with UNICEF, joining us from New York this morning. Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 19, 2003 - 09:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Much-needed aid is moving into Iraq as people deal with the aftermath of war. And it is the needs of children that are drawing much attention now.
Carol Bellamy is executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund. She is joining us now from New York.
Hello to you. Thanks for being here.
CAROL BELLAMY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND: Thank you.
COLLINS: Tell us, if you would, specifically, what other problems that the children of Iraq are facing?
BELLAMY: Well, there are multiple problems. Services have deteriorated in some places and don't exist in others. One of the major services is the availability of clean water. Without clean water, we are seeing an increase in diarrheal diseases, an increase in malnutrition. Many of the schools are not usable any more, so the kids can't go back to school. Some children have been actually hurt by the fighting itself. But probably more of them have been hurt by the psychological damage.
COLLINS: Any concern -- I would imagine certainly there is -- about the state of the hospitals and the children that are in those hospitals as we speak?
BELLAMY: There is concern. And again, one has to look differentially around the country. In the north, the hospitals are still functioning, for the most part. In Baghdad, however, the hospitals, while they still have some of the essential medicines, are very low on oxygen, so they're not able to do some of the work that they would otherwise have to do. They are overcrowded. They are having to bury bodies in their own gardens.
So the hospitals are in -- and, in some cases, they have been looted. So the hospitals are in very difficult condition, certainly in Baghdad.
COLLINS: Carol, I'm just wondering, kind of out of a left-field question here, looking at this video that we're seeing of these very young children. Would it be your organization that would help if there is any interest in getting children that may be orphaned new families? Would people contact you? Or is there any interest in that? BELLAMY: That would probably be done through others, although we have provided supplies to a number of the institutions that take care of orphans at this point. For many of them, they have extended families. What really needs to be done is to connect them perhaps with an aunt or a grandmother or perhaps not their immediate parents. That's probably better for them at this point.
COLLINS: Are you worried about the safety of these children?
BELLAMY: Yes, very worried about their safety, for a variety of reasons. Just basic health safety, worried about the continued lawlessness, worried about the fact that there are unexploded ordinances or land mines. And, as usual, children like to play with things, so that they're more likely to try and play with that.
And then worried because, in some cases, they have been separated from their families.
COLLINS: All right, Carol Bellamy with UNICEF, joining us from New York this morning. Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
