UNICEF says children nearly taken out of Chad are in good health

Following the attempt by a French non-governmental organization (NGO) to fly them out of Chad, the 103 children held in an orphanage appear to be in good health and are doing fairly well, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported today.

The agency has supplied food and games for the children, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe said in New York.

UNICEF has also dispatched 10 staff members – including the Head of the Child Protection Unit – to Abeche where the children are and is training 40 staff members to care for the children.

Investigators are currently trying to determine where these children are from and whether they have living relatives. UNICEF emphasizes that all process involving the movement of children should be transparent, and that proper investigations should always take place to locate their relatives and to determine available options, such as children remaining with their parents, extended family or appropriate caregivers.

According to media reports, nine French aid workers with the organization Zoe’s Ark will be charged with abduction and fraud by Chadian authorities.