UNICEF: Working to protect lives of Odessa street children
UNICEF: Working to protect lives of Odessa street children
From: unicef
ODESSA, Ukraine, 19 November 2007 — For thousands of street children in Ukraine, daily life is a fight for survival. Their rights are often violated and normal childhood has often been replaced by drug addiction and violence.
Miroslav, 17, for example, lives in squalor, with clothes and garbage strewn everywhere in the corner of an unused garage. He shares his makeshift home with two other youths — Vova and Taras. These are just a few of the estimated 4,000 homeless children on the streets of Odessa who lack the fundamental right to protection.
“UNICEF is trying to provide access for street children to basic services like education, health, first aid and counselling on HIV, to help them stay healthy and get some basic education,” says UNICEF Ukraine’s Assistant Project Officer for HIV and Young People’s Health and Development, Olena Sakovych.
To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ukraine_41818.html
