HAITI / LIONEL MESSI

Argentinean soccer star Lionel Messi visited Haiti to highlight the challenges facing children six months after the country was struck by a devastating earthquake in his role as a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador.

During his one-day visit last week, Messi stopped at a camp called Carrefour Aviation, home to 50,000 Haitians who lost their homes during the 12 January earthquake.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Lionel Messi, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
“The truth is that I didn’t expect it to be this way, it surprised me that people treat me in this manner and that I could bring a smile out of people who have gone through such difficult times.”

The magnitude-7.0 quake claimed more than 200,000 lives and left 1.3 million more people homeless in Haiti. Countless buildings, including Government facilities, hospitals and schools, were also destroyed.

At the UNICEF HAITI headquarters, Messi had a chance to meet with a group of Haitian children who live at the camp and participate in a Sports for Development program.

These children and many others are participants in a psycho social rehabilitation program, implemented by UNICEF and its partner, the Haitian Olympic Committee. Recreation and play are vital to the happiness, health and well-being of all children, particularly those who are living through a crisis situation.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Lionel Messi, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
“Sports helped me a lot. I think there are many things that one does in inside the football field that helps one later in life.”

Messi, who plays for FC Barcelona and more recently with the Argentinean national team in the World Cup, then joined UNICEF staff to hear about their programmes to help the Haitian Government and its people after the catastrophe.

Messi, 23, has seen his relatively short career take him to the peak of soccer, having been named both the FIFA World Player of the Year and winner of the Golden Ball award for the best European footballer of the year, both in 2009.

UNICEF said in a press release that there are few places in the world today where children are as vulnerable as they are in Haiti. More than 1.2 million of the impoverished Caribbean nation’s children are exposed to exploitation and abuse, while some 800,000 are living in tents at campsites which lack adequate sanitation.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Lionel Messi, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
“We have to work a lot and value Haiti and help in everything that is happening because we need a lot of work to change all that I saw. Haiti has practically nothing and it will take a lot for Haiti to rise again.”

Half a year after the earthquake, the humanitarian needs of people affected by it remain immense, UN agencies and their partners said in a report issued last week, which also takes stock of the response effort and presents lessons learned from the challenging and complex emergency.