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Summary: The Child Protection Resource Package brings together UNICEF reports, publications, statistics, videos, press releases and studies – to provide a comprehensive picture of child protection issues across the region.
[GENEVA, 22 December 2005] - The marginalised and disadvantaged children of Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States feature in a new online information package launched by UNICEF today. The Child Protection Resource Package brings together UNICEF reports, publications, statistics, videos, press releases and studies – to provide a comprehensive picture of child protection issues across the region. "Child protection is an absolute priority for UNICEF in this region," says Maria Calivis, UNICEF Regional Director. "Most children are immunised. Most go to school. Most have enough to eat. But time and again we see the same disadvantaged groups of children denied their most basic rights. "These are children who are excluded from mainstream society, who suffer discrimination because of their poverty, their ethnicity, their gender or disability. The girl who does not go to school, the boy growing up in an institution, the child washing car windscreens at the traffic lights – all have fallen through the nets that should protect them. "Information on these children is scarce. This package is a step towards closing that information gap and highlighting the many innovations that are taking place in the region to protect children." The online package, prepared by the UNICEF CEE/CIS Regional Office and all 20 UNICEF Country Offices in the region, examines the protection of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, deprivation of parental care and liberty. As well as outlining UNICEF’s response to child protection issues in each country, it provides in-depth regional and country specific information, including statistics, on children living away from their families and juvenile justice as well as violence, exploitation and abuse. The resource package is intended for legislators, policy makers, professionals, civil society organisations and media throughout the region, as well as anyone who wants to learn more about child protection issues.