UNICEF: October 2010

UNICEF Executive Director launches innovative approach to the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Kenya

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake joined the Kenya Government and other partners on Friday to roll out an innovative approach to prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to their babies (PMTCT). The initiative includes a combination of interventions and supplies such as a “Mother-Baby-Pack” of antiretroviral drugs and antibiotics, which women can easily administer at home.
The “Mother-Baby-Pack” is part of the government’s Maisha MTCT-free Zone Initiative. This innovative programme is designed to help virtually eliminate mother-to-child-transmission of HIV and pediatric AIDS by 2013 in Nyanza and Rift Valley provinces, where about half of all Kenyan children with HIV live, and by 2015 in the entire country. Without treatment, around half of all children born with HIV will die before their second birthday.
Mr. Lake commended the Kenya government for its commitment to take innovative steps to expand and strengthen the quality of PMTCT services. “Maisha" means “Life” in Kiswahili, and I can think of no better way to describe a programme with the potential to save so many lives. The Maisha Initiative is a significant step forward towards our common goal of virtually eliminating mother to child transmission in Kenya,” he said.
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UNICEF Executive Director launches innovative approach to the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Kenya

Africa seizes chance against polio

This week, Africa seizes an unprecedented chance to drive out polio when 15 countries across the continent launch a synchronized mass immunization campaign to reach 72 million children, capitalizing on gains made this year. A total of some 290,000 vaccinators have been mobilized to go door-to-door to deliver two drops of oral polio vaccine (OPV) to every child under five in areas considered at "highest risk" of polio transmission.
Africa's leaders demonstrated unprecedented cooperation and commitment to carry out a series of synchronized immunization activities in 2009 and in March and April, 2010, following the spread of the disease from Nigeria which came to infect 24 countries across west and central Africa and in the Horn of Africa.
As a direct result of these immunization campaigns, the polio outbreaks have slowed to a trickle. Across west Africa, only Liberia and Mali have recorded any cases in the past five months, while Nigeria – the only country in Africa never to have stopped polio transmission – has slashed polio by 98 per cent in the past year.
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UNICEF and partners respond to flood devestation in Benin

Heavy and persistent rainfall has deeply affected the daily lives of more than 680,000 people in Benin, approximately 122,000 of whom are children under-five. The number of displaced is 180,000.

UNICEF, in collaboration with its partners, is working with urgency on the ground to respond to the crisis. “The scourge is so heavy that it is urgent to work hand in hand and respond to basic needs such as potable water, food, shelters and essential commodities”, said Dr. Diallo, UNICEF Representative in Benin.

UN agencies including UNICEF, the Red Cross, as well as NGOs namely CRS, Plan Benin, Caritas and Care have joined with Government representatives and formed the National Crisis Management Team.

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More disaster looms for children caught in Sa’ada emergency

UNICEF is sounding a loud alarm over staggering rates of child malnutrition in Sa’ada, a northern governorate that has been affected by conflict in recent years.

The dire situation became fully clear when the findings of a UNICEF-supported screening, conducted by the Ministry of Public Health and Population, were released earlier this month.
Nearly half of the 26,246 children aged 6-59 months screened in five western districts of Sa’ada in July 2010 were found to be suffering from global acute malnutrition; in one area, the proportion was as high as three out of four children. Overall, 17 per cent of the children screened suffer from severe acute malnutrition and 28 per cent from moderate acute malnutrition.
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Secretary-General appoints new Deputy Executive Director for UNICEF

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Martin Mogwanja as one of UNICEF’s three Deputy Executive Directors. Mr. Mogwanja will replace Omar Abdi, who will take up the position of UNICEF’s Comptroller. Prior to taking up his new position Mr. Mogwanja, who is a Kenyan national, is UNICEF’s representative in Pakistan. In 2009, he was appointed United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for that country.
Responding to the announcement, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said, “I am very pleased with the Secretary General’s decision to appoint Martin Mogwanja to the post of Deputy Executive Director for UNICEF.”
Since joining UNICEF in 1977, Mr. Mogwanja had served as the organization’s Representative in Uganda and in the Democratic Republic of Congo and as its Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
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Statistics a powerful tool to drive change for the world’s most vulnerable children

On the occasion of the first World Statistics Day, UNICEF experts are calling attention to the essential role that data and statistics play in the development of effective policies and programmes that help improve the lives of children and women around the world.

UNICEF supports countries in the collection, analysis and use of data generated by the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) on the situation of women and children in developing countries. These surveys are among the most important statistical tools used by UNICEF and others to identify problems, evaluate programmes and monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
MICS are an excellent source of data because they are compiled through a household interview process, which means the surveys reveal what families actually use as they seek to meet their needs – where they get their water or what medical assistance they access -- rather than what officials or service providers indicate is available to them. Without such statistics, governments, the international aid community and journalists would have a much more difficult time mapping the characteristics of communities and the challenges they face.
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Making clean hands a priority for more than just a day, Global Handwashing Day partners lather up with millions around the world

For the third annual Global Hand washing Day, more than 200 million schoolchildren, parents, teachers, celebrities and government officials around the world will lather up, but at the end of the day, they aim to have more than just clean hands.
This year the theme of Global Hand washing Day – more than just a day – aims to make the simple, life-saving practice of washing hands a regular habit.
Global Hand-washing Day partners are promoting this behavioral change not only by organizing activities in more than 80 countries to raise awareness of the benefits of hand-washing, but by ensuring that schools and communities have the support they need to make the practice routine. Toward this end the Global Public-Private Partnership for Hand-washing with Soap is rolling out new tools to help developing countries transform hand-washing from a distracted daily act to a positive habit.

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UN experts call for closer examination of the impact of disciplinary practices of children

At a special event held at the United Nations Headquarters today, UN experts called for better data and research on violence against children in order to strengthen government action for prevention and response to violence and to support legal prohibitions.

Organized by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, UNICEF and OHCHR, and supported by the Government of Sweden, the interactive panel discussion on the theme of promoting better data and research to inform child sensitive and effective laws, policies and action highlighted new evidence about children's exposure to physical punishment and psychological aggression.

Panelists included senior representatives of the Governments of Brazil and Sweden, an NGO partner, Plan International, as well as representatives of the joint organizers of the special event.

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UNICEF report highlights advances in programming for education in emergencies

In 2009, over 6 million children around the globe benefited from interventions to restore learning and improve the quality of education in countries affected by emergencies. As the world marks the International Day for Disaster Reduction today, a report released by UNICEF shows how education programmes in countries affected by conflict or natural disasters – and sometimes both – are overcoming odds and contributing to long-term development.
Enabling children to go to school during and after emergencies is a core part of UNICEF’s mandate. Since 2006, UNICEF has dramatically scaled up work in education in emergencies and post-crisis transition countries through the Back on Track programme.
This $201 million initiative, funded by the Dutch Government, represents the largest single earmarked contribution to UNICEF from a government donor. The European Commission also contributed about $5 million to the programme. This combined support has ensured that children are helped both at the immediate onset of emergencies – when the task is to restore schooling and establish a safe environment for learning – and in the more sustained period of post-crisis reconstruction aimed at building back education systems.
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UNICEF calls for intensified efforts to bolster disaster risk reduction measures to protect the most vulnerable children

As the world marks the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on 13 October, UNICEF today urged governments and civil society partner s to step up efforts to help mitigate the impact of disasters – especially on children – by helping communities to become resilient, and more able to respond to disasters and changing climate conditions.

Children typically represent 50 to 60 per cent of those affected by disasters, whether through loss of life or from diseases related to malnutrition and poor water and sanitation—conditions that are exacerbated by disasters. In addition, disasters disrupt education and can cause psychological distress, and present issues of exploitation of children, creating more vulnerability.
Education, public awareness, community-based preparedness, teaching life skills, as well as disaster-resilient public buildings are all ways to reduce risk reduction for children.
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Water and santiation are most urgent needs as Pakistan's flood crisis persists

There’s a cruel irony that hangs over Pakistan’s vast, tented camps in the wake of the country’s devastating floods. While water is what damaged or destroyed nearly two million homes and affected the lives of more than 20 million people just weeks ago, today water exactly is what those people need most.

The flood emergency in Pakistan is far from over. While the waters have receded in some areas and thousands of families are returning home, there is often little or nothing for them to return to.

Meanwhile UNICEF and its partners are working to provide the most essential services – including safe water and sanitation – to those who still cannot return home.

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Infusions of cash tackle immediate needs in Niger's drought-affected areas

For the first time in an emergency setting, UNICEF is using cash as a way to help families affected by a food crisis.
The Government of Niger – supported by UNICEF and the non-governmental organizations CARE and Save the Children – will distribute money to every woman with at least one child under the age of two in areas most affected by the country’s severe drought.
The cash transfer of $40 per month for three months is aimed at about 30,000 vulnerable families. Payments are being made to cover a period at the end of the ‘lean season,’ when families have already experienced several months of extreme shortages before the October harvest.
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UNICEF and partners promote hygiene in schools amidst conflict and floods

Water levels along the Swat River have returned to normal, but evidence of the devastation from recent floods is everywhere. Bridges, roads, schools, health facilities, water supply and sanitation systems in Swat Valley – which were already suffering from the effects of military conflict over the last two years – are severely affected.

In flooded areas of north-western Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the emergency has grown increasingly complex. Due to the pre-existing conflict in the province’s Malakand division, women and children – especially girls – were already denied access to basic health and education services.

Then the flood crisis caused a breakdown of communication networks and infrastructure, making this vulnerable group harder to reach with life-saving interventions.

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On the first day of school, UNICEF provides support for earthquake-affected children in Haiti

For thousands of temporary residents of the Primature displacement camp in the Haitian capital, yesterday’s routine began as it has every day since the earthquake struck here in January. But for others, there was one major difference: It was a school day.

Judeline, 6, has been living with her mother, brother and cousin in a tent on the muddy slope of Primature since the quake destroyed their house and her father was killed. For Judeline, yesterday marked an important new start, as she went off to school in the morning for the first time.

“Going back to school is symbolic today,” said UNICEF Representative in Haiti Françoise Gruloos-Ackermans. “This is the future of the country, and I am very happy because all the donors and partners – bilateral, multilateral – we are all together in this battle, because this is a real battle.”

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UNICEF’s emergency response to one of the worst cholera epidemics in 10 years

UNICEF is working with the Ministry of Social Action, the Ministry of Health, WHO, international and national NGOs and partnering institutions to tackle the epidemic.
Its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) section is the lead of the cluster response, with partners like the Croix Rouge Tchadienne and Codewan, a local NGO working at the village level. Cholera kits were donated to hospitals and NGOs, and technical assistance provided to the Ministry of Health.
A specific communication and public information campaign is also underway through radio messages, distribution of leaflets and posters, as well door-to-door sensitization of the population.
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Zimbabwe water and sanitation sector to receive a boost

In a collective move to avert the recurrence of waterborne diseases and rehabilitate the country’s water, sanitation and hygiene sector, the Inclusive Government of Zimbabwe today announced the rejuvenation of the National Action Committee (NAC), an inter-ministerial committee charged with overall coordination of the sector.
Zimbabwe’s water supply and sanitation services, once a source of national pride, have suffered a major collapse in both urban and rural areas which contributed to the 2008/2009 cholera epidemic that claimed more than 4,000 lives. According to UNICEF/WHO figures 83 per cent of Zimbabweans have access to improved water and 40 per cent had access to improved sanitation.
Yet in recent years, the combination of aging equipment, lack of regular power to operate water pumps and a shortage of skilled technicians to manage repairs has caused taps in urban areas to often run dry and left millions of people without access to a regular supply of safe water.
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Recognizing the emotional impact of calamities, UNICEF promotes guidelines to aid in recovery

In an effort to help communities cope with the emotional and social suffering caused by conflict and natural disasters, UNICEF and partners are today exploring how collaboration on common approaches supports the recovery process for children and communities in emergencies.

“One of UNICEF’s priorities in emergencies is to protect and improve the mental health and psychosocial well-being of communities in crisis. We know from experience in many emergencies that the very real and profound distress among communities and the scale of such problems can only be effectively addressed by collaboration among all key actors." said Amanda Melville, Child Protection, UNICEF. "

The IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies settings provide a framework that facilitates interagency collaboration and brings together actors from different sectors such as health, education and protection around a common vision,” “These guidelines have been used in many countries to identify common priorities and gaps, flag harmful practices and identify useful practices and develop common approaches. They have helped us in our mission to better support communities in crisis.”

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In Pakistan's Swat valley, health workers reach out to women and children already struggling

The scenic Swat valley in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is facing a complex emergency situation. Since May 2009 military operations and conflict have ravaged the area and in July 2010 floods came, affecting some 3.8 million people in the province and devastating thousands.

The impact on the health and nutritional status of families has been severe, especially for children and women.

“Children and women were badly affected by the conflict and we had not yet completed the early recovery work when the worst floods hit us,” said Javed Afridi, Project Coordinator for the Abaseen Foundation, a non-governmental UNICEF partner in Pakistan. With partners like Abaseen, UNICEF is conducting social mobilization activities for ‘Mother and Child Days’ and other health and vaccination campaigns in the Swat valley.

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