Robyn Dixon of the LA Times has a series of great reports from Madagascar. I was particularly struck by one report entitled “Madagascar’s children face hunger, abuse, and neglect”. You can read the full piece here. And check out Robyn’s other reports from Madagascar here and here.

Excerpts below:

The children in the Andohatapenaka child-friendly center are the urban poor: hungry, abused, neglected, fearful. About half are suffering malnutrition, staff say.

Hunger is probably the most serious struggle for most, because of the collapse of Madagascar’s economy after a coup and political crisis in March. The military toppled President Marc Ravalomanana and replaced him with his rival, Andry Rajoelina, then the mayor of Antananarivo. Since then, the tourist industry has shut down and many factories have closed, triggering massive unemployment.

In the wake of the coup, the United States and the European Union cut aid to Madagascar, which relies on Western assistance to cover almost half its budget. Efforts to resolve the crisis have dragged on for months; a deal on a national unity government was reached recently, but an earlier accord collapsed.