TORONTO, June 26 /CNW/ - David Agnew, president and CEO, UNICEF Canada,returned to Toronto yesterday after a week-long visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Agnew visited UNICEF projects in the DRC and saw first-hand what must be done, both in the short and long term, to help
children in one of the largest humanitarian tragedies in the world today.
"The world has not grasped the severity of the conflict in the eastern province of Ituri in the DRC, including the horrifying abuse of children and women," says Agnew. "The situation is nothing short of genocide, with over three million people killed since 1998." Children have been slaughtered in civilian massacres, seen their parents and siblings killed, and been recruited as child soldiers.