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Angola's Children

posted: May 14, 2002

The New York Times

To the Editor:

Children have been the biggest losers from the Angolan government's ''lost'' tax revenues and misspending of oil revenues (news article, May 14). The government used the revenues to sustain its long civil war against Unita, leaving the health care, educational and other systems in shambles. Children are the most vulnerable under these conditions, and one of every three children in Angola dies before the age of 5.

With a new cease-fire in Angola, the international community, oil companies and others with leverage must exert more pressure to hold the government accountable for its spending and its obligations to protect children and all other civilians.

JULIA FREEDSON
New York, May 14, 2002

The writer is the coordinator of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict.