ANTANANARIVO, July 31 (Xinhua)-- The eradication of children's poverty was a long-term task in Madagascar, the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Ann Veneman said here on Wednesday.

    Before wind up her 5-day visit to the Indian Ocean island country, Ann Veneman told the press that 42 percent of Madagascan children under 5 years have not got adequate weight compared to that of 28 percent of the children in sub-saharan Africa region.

    The aim of her visit was to see the progress of cooperation between UNICEF and the Madagascan government from 2008 to 2011, in which UNICEF would help Antananarivo reduce the population living below 2 U.S. dollar per day to 50 percent by 2012 from the last available figure of 67.5 percent in 2006.

    In its development program 2007-2012, the government set a target to reduce the poverty rate to 50 percent by 2012 and to eradicate the children mortality by 2015 from 94 per 1000 in 2004.

    Veneman inspected the cyclone-stricken eastern region of Analanjirofo, where 364 schools and over 40 clinics and medical centers were destroyed by the strong cyclone last February, affecting 160,000 people.

    With assistance of the UNICEF and other donors, most of the schools, clinics and medical centers had been rehabilitated.

    During her visit, Veneman launched a national campaign of vaccination against tetanus for some 830,000 women between 19 and 45 years in 23 districts.

    She provided a grant of 2 million U.S. dollars to support the Madagascan government in its efforts to help the most vulnerable malnourished children, according to Midi, a French-Language daily, published on Thursday.

    Veneman, who left here on Thursday for Mozambique before attending the international conference on AIDS in Mexico, met President Marc Ravalomanana as well as senior government officials and leaders of public and private institutions.