NEW YORK, JULY 14 – The Italian Permanent Mission to the United Nations hosted today a new meeting of the Humanitarian Dialogue, this time on “forgotten crises” with the participation of UNICEF Executive Director General Catherine Russell. The situation in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo was on the agenda of the discussion chaired by the Italian Permanent Representative, Ambassador Maurizio Massari.
“To assist the most vulnerable, especially children, filling the funding gap and focusing on long-term measures are imperative”, the Italian Mission remarked on Twitter. Russell travelled to Haiti three weeks ago after having visited Haiti once before in 2010, with then-First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, after the devastating January 12 earthquake, which left millions in need of humanitarian assistance. The June trip left her with it the knowledge that there are now even more Haitian people in need than ever before. Today, an estimated 5.2 million people, or close to half of the entire population, require humanitarian assistance. This includes nearly 3 million children.
Russell was in the DRC, where UNICEF has one of its largest operation in the world, in April. (@OnuItalia)
