What War Has Done to Chechnya's Children
In Chechnya today there are approximately 500,000 children between the ages of 0 and 17. The ongoing violence and the aftermath of two major wars have a profound effect on their lives. In a report in the Spring of 2003, the United Nations listed food as the greatest need facing Chechnya 's children, followed closely by shelter, and health care. The same report noted that over 40% of all Chechens live in poverty, and that 32% face severe difficulties in maintaining their basic food needs.
The destruction in Chechnya has left children at serious risk of disease, and no public health infrastructure to care for them. The risk from TB is particularly grave, and there are high rates of intestinal infections and hepatitis A, as well as growing rates of infection from whooping cough, mumps, and measles. A lack of clean drinking water, basic sanitation, and immunizations are the immediate causes of this situation.
A further threat to the children of Chechnya lies in the huge number of land mines and other unexploded ordinance spread throughout the region--thousands of children have been maimed so far.
Learn More About the War's Effects on Chechnya
Freelance journalist Nicholas Coates completed a report in April 2007 on the war's effects on Chechnya's environment and their impact on public health. [Read more]
In October 2003, World Vision published a brief report outlining the devastated
state of Chechnya's schools. [Read more]
Human Rights Watch has taken a strong stance on the devastation in Chechyna calling it "the single largest human rights crisis in Europe." [Read more]
Useful Links
The following are good sources of information on the situation in Chechnya:
American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus (United States)
http://www.peaceinthecaucasus.org
Amnesty International (United Kingdom)
http://www.amnesty.org/russia/
Chechnya Weekly (United States)
http://www.russia.jamestown.org/pub_chechnya.htm
Human Rights Watch (United States)
http://www.hrw.org/europe/russia.php
Institute for War & Peace Reporting (United Kingdom)
http://www.iwpr.net/caucasus_index1.html
Memorial (Russian Federation)
http://www.memorial.ru/eng/index.htm
Physicians for Human Rights (United States)
http://www.phrusa.org
Prague Watchdog (Czech Republic)
http://watchdog.cz/
The Caucasus Times (Czech Republic)
http://www.caucasustimes.com/default_en.asp
The Chechen Times (France)
http://www.chechnya.nl/index.php?lang=eng
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (United States)
http://www.ushmm.org/conscience/
