Beriz Belkic, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina

U.N. Special Session on Children, May 8th, 2002.

"The Bosnia-Herzegovina experience shows that a critical step in achieving this progress was good partnership and relations between our government and our salt producer...In 1999, through the contribution of Kiwanis International, UNICEF purchased the equipment that enabled the salt to be adequately iodized...

But we have not stopped here. We are taking measures to train and make both our health professionals and the public aware of iodine deficiency...

Protecting children from this mental disability is an obligation for all of us. Our contribution to ensuring that children growing up in this post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina have the 'best-start' possible is reflected in the progress we have made towards Universal Salt Iodization. The result of the close cooperation between the legistation, health, and private sectors in Bosmia-Herzegovina will be that no child should be born with brain damage caused by iodine deficiency and that children raised in Bosnia-Herzegovina will indeed have the smartest possible start in life."