Hospitals give up too easily when mothers run into problems

David Orr sees the effect on children forced to fight in Sierra Leone's civil war

TIM MCGIRK

CHILDREN OF WAR APPEAL

Welcome to Bosnia, its children and their play. Last month, as war abated, hope soared and sieges were raised, the photographer Dario Mitidieri arrived to find that for little boys there was still only one game. It was the one they learned from the only life they had known. It may be a long time before they are calm enough to learn another Children like the two above waiting by a rubble skip in Mostar, where the narrow streets for so long resounded deafeningly to the sound of war, are only just beginning to experience quiet. As for peace of mind, how long will that take?

CHILDREN OF WAR APPEAL

The Independent today launches the Children of War Appeal, a special plea to help the child victims of the war ravaged countries of the former Yugoslavia this Christmas.

They witnessed rapes, they saw relatives butchered. Some have blood on their own hands. Will this generation ever recover? David Orr talks to Rwanda's children

The United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, has reported a loss of up to $10m (pounds 6.25m) at its Kenya office and says more than $1m was "misappropriated" by staff. Unicef made public a report by its own auditors into the scandal and said it was taking remedial action. Diplomats and UN officials said Unicef's response to the audit was prompt and open, setting a model of accountability signally lacking in other UN agencies.

ON 9 MARCH 1959, at the New York Toy Fair, a star was born: Barbie Millicent Roberts, universally known as Barbie. From day one, her somewhat precocious use of make-up, her breathtaking hourglass figure (39-18-33) and her fondness for dressing-up made Barbie a smash hit the world over. And so she has remained. More than 1 billion Barbie dolls have now been sold. Like a rock megastar, Barbie has sustained her success through constant reinvention: she has been model, Olympic gymnast, business executive, paediatrician, television news reporter, presidential candidate, unofficial goodwill ambassador for Unicef - even (under the label "Baywatch Barbie") lifeguard. But now she has made a career move whose boldness has surprised even her most devoted fans. Barbie has become an art object.

Aid agencies are turning to hi-tech.

The old chestnut, the received idea, the hackneyed phrase: these are not just verbal phenomena. The world has become less word-led, and the visual cliches are piling up. Peter York presses the pause button on some standard images of the electronic age

New York - James Grant, longtime director of Unicef, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer, UN officials said. He was 72. A US citizen born in Peking, he was named to head the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund in 1980. He resigned this week as a result of his illness.

Up to 2,000 schools are expected to take part in a national non-uniform day early next month to raise money for the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef). Pupils will be allowed to wear whatever they want for the day in return for a small fee, w hich will be used to help street children and working children in Colombia. The event has taken place on the first Friday in February every year since 1989. Last year £160,000 was raised for Unicef programmes in Sri Lanka and this year there is a target of £200,000. An education pack including a map, full colour photographs and a 24-page booklet featuring true stories of Colombian children has been produced for the occasion, and will be issued free to all the schools taking part.