Officials: Crisis killing Madagascan children

CNN 22.04.2002

(Reuters) -- The political crisis which has paralyzed Madagascar, disrupting food supplies and sanitation, may have killed several thousand children and women, public health officials said Sunday.

A dispute over the outcome of December's presidential elections has split the nation, triggering a violent power struggle between two rivals for leadership.

"The crisis which has sapped Madagascar for the past four months may have led to the deaths of 7,500 children and 400 women in the country," one official told Radio Madagascar.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the Indian Ocean island, one of the poorest countries in the world, have issued similar messages in newspapers over the past week.

"If the crisis continues and means of communication remain blocked, thousands of mothers and children will continue to die in silence, and we won't even know," a statement by a group of 10 NGOs said.

NGOs estimate that in normal circumstances 7,500 children under the age of five die every month in Madagascar, while about 250 mothers die due to complications while giving birth. The lack of transport caused by the crisis could see the toll double, they said.

After the December polls, the popular mayor of the capital Marc Ravalomanana claimed to have won, but veteran President Didier Ratsiraka said neither he nor his rival gained an outright majority and demanded a second round.

Ravalomanana arranged mass protests and a general strike to try and pressure the government into recounting the first round, and when that failed he declared himself president, saying he had no other option.

Ravalomanana now controls the capital, but the battle for Madagascar's provinces continues. Up to 60 people have been killed in clashes between the two sides, according to officials at the ministry of health.

Deal brings little change

The two presidents struck a deal to end the crisis in Senegal last week, agreeing to a recount of the disputed poll. Road blocks, which Ratsiraka supporters have erected to isolate the capital, were also to be dismantled to prevent further deterioration of the battered economy.

Tensions on the island have calmed since the agreement, but there has been no sign of any change on the ground. Residents in the capital were rationed to one loaf of bread each on Sunday, due to flour shortages caused by the blockades.

The Organization of African Unity (OAU) said late on Saturday it planned to appoint a special envoy to help the rivals overcome obstacles "which were bound to arise" on the road to peace.

Speaking in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, OAU Secretary General Amara Essy said foreign ministers from Benin, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Mozambique would also form a follow-up committee to keep the peace initiative on track.

"It's a country which is losing $10 to $15 million a day because of its paralyzed economy, which was growing at rate of six or seven percent," Essy told a news conference.

"The agreement can't solve all the problems but it does depend on Madagascans surmounting their differences and finding a solution to their problems."

Ravalomanana has now returned to Madagascar from Senegal, while Ratsiraka is thought to be returning via France.