UNICEF, Muslim rebels launch health campaign in conflict zones

Apr 16, 2007, 11:15 GMT

Manila - The United Nations' Children Fund (UNICEF) and Muslim separatist rebels in the southern Philippines on Monday launched a campaign to deliver basic health services to children and women in conflict areas.

The 'Days of Peace' campaign aimed to provide immunization, micronutrient supplementation, de-worming and breast-feeding counseling in some 500 communities formerly inaccessible due to armed conflict in the southern region of Mindanao.

The campaign was being implemented jointly by the UNICEF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group fighting for the establishment of a separate Islamic state in Mindanao.

'We look forward with great anticipation to the incremental service that this rolling campaign will bring as we attempt to restore full basic social services and infrastructure in conflict-affected areas,' UNICEF Country Representative Nicholas Alipui said.

'All children everywhere have the same rights all the time,' he added in a statement. 'As we stand up for children, we should be guided by this common ground.'

The UNICEF said the campaign would reach 30,000 infants with immunizations against preventable diseases, more than 150,000 children with de-worming medicine and vitamin A supplements, and 16,500 pregnant mothers with tetanus toxoid vaccination.

Two more rounds are planned for June or July and October, when additional basic services will be provided, such as birth registration, malaria control and distribution of education supplies.

MILF Chairman Murad Ebrahim pledged to 'provide access and guarantee security' for personnel involved in the campaign.

He said the campaign 'will undoubtedly contribute to the search for genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao.'

'We would like to our people to accept the programme as among the fruits of the peace process,' Ebrahim added.

The MILF has been engaged in peace talks with the government, but the negotiations were suspended last year after the two sides failed to agree on how to expand an existing autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao.