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So big deal Unicef, (you give a portion of sales for a bag of pampers) you provide a few vaccines for the third World.
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I understand criticisms and concerns re: UNICEF's policies and actions in Guatemala re: international adoption. However, please, let's not reduce their work to "a few vaccines".
In Guatemala alone UNICEF provides:
* approximately $8 million/year in ongoing relief
* has done extensive work in the areas of water, sanitation, housing, removal of land mines, health promotion, health care, and day care for children
* Following Hurricane Stan (which killed approximately 2,000 Guatemalans) UNICEF was one of the first agencies there. In the first
days alone they provided $3.6 million in relief. This included 290,000 rehydration salts, 128,000 antibiotics, nutrition for children and nursing mothers, shelter with a specific emphasis on separated children, and mobilization of 400 teachers who were provided specific training on how to support children living in the shelters. They allocated an additional $3.6 million in ongoing hurricane relief for water and sanitation, basic health services, nutrition, and child protection.
Some of our children would not be alive today if it wasn't for UNICEF's work in Guatemala. Their parents would have died before our children were born or our children would have died before we brought them home due to rampant disease.
I have my own concerns over the adoption policies and actions. But being critical in that area doesn't mean we have to disregard all of the valuable work they do.