Supporting health care workers on the front line
Pacific Islands
Compounding emergencies, coupled with gaps in existing health and social services infrastructure, have left the Pacific Islands vulnerable to the threat of COVID-19.
UNICEF is partnering with health ministries and communities across the region to secure supplies; train healthcare staff; and provide health advice, equipment and sanitation kits to hundreds of thousands of people. Schools are being supported to implement hygiene plans, stock sanitation supplies in anticipation of students returning, and critical health initiatives – including immunisations, pre- and post-natal care and nutritional support – are being prioritised.
This work will impact people across 14 Pacific island nations, empowering communities, services and government agencies to work together to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Funding Target: $490,000
A gift of just $2,000 could pay for 1,000 women and children to receive essential healthcare services, including immunization, prenatal and postnatal care, HIV care and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) response care in UNICEF supported facilities.
Improving health, reducing violence
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (PNG) boasts the unenviable statistic of 0.7 doctors per 10,000 people. In the event of widespread COVID-19 infection, it’s a number that could spell disaster. UNICEF is working hard to build PNG’s healthcare capacity with an emphasis on maintaining critical services – such as vital nutrition programs for pregnant women and vulnerable children – throughout the global pandemic.
UNICEF is also responding to PNG’s shockingly high rates of violence against children, which are likely be exacerbated by restrictions on movement and reduced access to health care services due to COVID-19. UNICEF is supporting frontline social workers to identify alternative care arrangements for vulnerable kids and empowering parents and caregivers to better support the young people in their care.
Funding Target: $472,920
A gift of $6500 could purchase essential nutrition supplements for 10,000 children to prevent malnutrition.
Keeping kids learning
Timor-Leste
As one of the world’s youngest countries, Timor-Leste faces many challenges in providing high quality education to all, as well as overcoming the systemic problem of violence against children – key challenges that are becoming increasingly critical in the face of COVID-19.
In response, UNICEF has partnered with the Ministry of Education to connect young people with at-home education during COVID-19 school closures and to upgrade school handwashing and sanitation facilities in preparation for students’ return. Education programs include TV and radio as well as printed workbooks for children in remote areas who don’t have access to the internet or electricity.
To protect young people from violence, UNICEF is establishing a referral system to provide alternative care arrangements for vulnerable kids, training frontline support workers to mitigate the risk of violence and providing access to psychological care and parenting programs for socially isolated families.
Funding Target: $490,000
A gift of $970 could provide 500 children with support for home-based learning, through TV, radio, online and print media.
Education front and centre
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
In Laos, months of COVID-19 shutdowns are threatening 20 years of progress. Although recent statistics show that the country has succeeded in enrolling 90% of children in primary education, the risk of long-term absenteeism is increasing as the pandemic continues. Meanwhile, the threat of domestic violence and abuse, which already affects up to three-quarters of children aged 2-14, has also risen as families shelter in place.
In response, UNICEF has launched an education program to keep kids learning, providing resources to the households of vulnerable children and supporting their parents to prioritise home schooling over domestic and other work. Through a combination of social welfare training and community education, a second program will provide support to children, parents and caregivers, as well as social welfare workers, to reduce the risk of sexual abuse, exploitation and gender-based violence against young people.
Funding Target: $490,000
A gift of $1000 could enable 250 children, parents and primary caregivers can be provided with mental health and psychosocial support.
Early learning starts now
Papua New Guinea
It is estimated that a child born in Papua New Guinea today will reach 38 per cent of their potential, due to many challenges such as poor nutrition and access to and quality of education.
The first years of life provide the best window of time to address these issues and ensure children the best opportunities in life.
This is why this UNICEF initiative is supporting the establishment of 55 Early Childhood Development centres. Children and families will have access to age-appropriate learning with an emphasis on school readiness, basic education in the areas of hygiene and sanitation; nutritious meals; and positive parenting initiatives, preparing 3,300 kids – including at least 60 children with disabilities – to take a running leap into life.
Funding Target: $513,729
A gift of just $800 could deliver regular parenting support sessions in one community, covering topics such as early stimulation, nutrition, health and child protection.
Crunching the numbers on newborn survival
Timor-Leste
All babies have the right to a bright future, but in Timor-Leste, 1 in 50 newborns don’t make it through the first few weeks of life.
UNICEF is working with the Ministry of Health, as well as healthcare staff to improve the quality of care by introducing quality standards; improving access to health services for all, particularly mothers, children and people with a disability; developing comprehensive datasets to better understand and address the causes of maternal and newborn death; and provide improved water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure and materials into health facilities.
By combining the power of people, data and infrastructure to tackle the leading causes of newborn mortality, this program will impact 8,000 children, 2,285 pregnant women and 80,000 people in the broader community – and give the babies of Timor-Leste a fighting chance at life.
Funding Target: $409,121
A gift of $10,000 could equip one health centre with disability accessible water and sanitation, serving a community of approximately 22,232 people.
A strong start to life for PNG’s youngest citizens
Papua New Guinea
Imagine if all it took to keep your child safe was a cuddle. Hypothermia is a contributing factor in more than 60 per cent of newborn deaths, even in countries with tropical climates – but in many cases, the solution can be as simple as ‘kangaroo care,’ or skin-to-skin contact. In Papua New Guinea, where one out of every 45 babies dies within their first month of life, UNICEF is working alongside the Government to introduce an innovative health package, encouraging new parents to initiate kangaroo care while also providing extensive training and support to health professionals for quality newborn care. The program is improving the quality of care in hospitals right through to local health facilities and village health volunteers who visit each home in the community.
The program aims to significantly increase neonatal survival rates and routine immunisations, reaching at least 73,180 mothers and fathers, and 25,992 newborns in their communities in two provinces.
Funding Target: $285,000
A gift of just $856 could train a village health volunteer in maternal and newborn healthcare.
Changing hearts, changing minds
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
In Laos, vulnerable children often struggle to achieve their full potential. This UNICEF program provides support, rehabilitation and care for kids especially at risk, including children in contact with the law and children with disabilities, creating opportunities for a brighter future.
Paralegals and community and village mediation unit members are being trained to deliver child-friendly legal aid and diversion programs to keep young people out of the justice system and provide legal support to child (and women) survivors of abuse.
Families and caregivers of children with disabilities, as well as relevant government agencies and service providers, are receiving education and training to raise awareness of these children’s rights and improve their access to high-quality, low-cost physical, social and emotional care. Combined, these programs will positively impact more than 3,000 men, women and children.
Funding Target: $170,000
A gift of just $100 could help to improve care and support for 10 children with disabilities in Laos.
Stolen childhoods:
Reintegration program for child soldiers
South Sudan
Since 2013, UNICEF has supported the release of 3,677 child soldiers from armed groups in South Sudan. Separated from their families and initiated into violence, these children are in urgent need of help to rebuild their lives.
UNICEF’s three-year reintegration program provides social work and psychosocial support; access to healthcare, education and vocational training; and family tracing and reunification, all of which are critical to helping these children overcome their trauma. As well as supporting individual kids, this program also responds to grave violations of children’s rights, preventing the normalisation of violence against children and upholding international law.
Pending funding, UNICEF will support the release of another 2,154 child soldiers in 2020.