Helping UNICEF help children in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

BEIJING, 21 October 2007 – "My week in Inner Mongolia has really opened my eyes to the plight of poor families in remote, rural areas of China, and of the great work UNICEF and its partners are doing to help them", Gigi Leung reported to those gathered at a UNICEF Debriefing organized this afternoon at the Beijing Ginza Mall.

Inner Mongolia, an enormous province spanning almost half the width of China's north, is one of the poorest of China's provinces, with high maternal and child mortality rates and high rates of child malnutrition. The population of almost 25 million is widely dispersed, making access to good health services difficult. While agriculture remains the province's economic mainstay, soils are poor and the harsh climate allows only one harvest per year for farmers cultivating crops of the staples, wheat and maize. The risk of drought threatens the livelihood of commercial farmers, but this year's catastrophic flood has devastated some communities.

Gigi had direct with families experiencing tragedy in Keerqinyouyizhongqi county in the region's north-east, including the parents of a newborn infant, Xiao Xu (not his real name). He died aged just 23 days when his family failed to seek care for a fever he developed soon after delivery. Attempted treatment by a village doctor did not help Xiao Xu, but his parents could not afford the cost of transport and treatment at the nearest township clinic. Gigi was deeply moved by the parent's loss, and stressed that families should heed UNICEF's message that the newborn period is the time of highest risk for children in China, and seek treatment for illness by skilled health providers without delay. She noted that she had learned that subsidized costs for poor families like Xiao Xu's is making access to good care more affordable now. "In Hong Kong, we take for granted the availability of food, water, transport and access to good care. Here, people are struggling in very basic conditions. My heart goes out to them and I am glad to be able to help UNICEF's activities in Inner Mongolia". 

UNICEF's Chief of Health in China, Dr. David Hipgrave, praised the tireless efforts of the Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF (HKCU) and the top celebrities who frequently attend UNICEF advocacy and fundraising events on the Mainland: "UNICEF's committees in 37 countries and territories are an enormous source of funding for our programs, and their efforts directly benefit communities like those Gigi visited this week", he said. "We are sincerely grateful to her and all the Hong Kong Committee for the time and energy they have donated. We also give thanks to our government counterparts in the Ministries of Commerce and Health and in Inner Mongolia, who provided great support for this week's visit, and to you, the media, for relaying information about our work to assist China's poor children, hopefully inspiring others to also assist our cause. Thank you all for being here today!"

Gigi Leung, a very popular singer in Hong Kong and Asia, was appointed as "Ambassador of China Children's Health" by the HKCU in July 2000 to arouse public awareness on problems faced by the children in the Mainland. She was appointed as an "HKCU Ambassador" in May 2005. In 2006, this Committee raised over US$1 million for the China Children's Health Fund, which supports UNICEF projects on the Mainland.

The field visit to Inner Mongolia by Ms Leung and members of the HKCU was made with a film crew from Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) which will produce a TV documentary to raise funds for the China Children's Health Fund Monthly Donation Programme. It was jointly organized by UNICEF and its counterparts at the Ministries of Commerce and Health, which were both represented today.

Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF

The HKCU was founded in 1986 and is one of the 37 UNICEF National Committees. The main work of the Committees is to organize fundraising and advocacy programmes in order to finance and publicise UNICEF's projects, currently implemented in over 150 developing countries.

The HKCU also organizes various activities to raise public awareness on the situation of children and children's rights in China and other developing countries, and to encourage youth to participate in voluntary service and pay attention to world issues.