Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Uganda + 1 more

Nearly 1 million children in West Nile to benefit from better quality health services

Attachments

New Swedish support to strengthen health system for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health

KAMPALA, MONDAY, 10 December 2018 – With new funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), nearly one million children in West Nile, including newborns and adolescents, together with pregnant women, will soon benefit from better quality health services.

“Supporting improvements in the health of children, adolescents and women, especially the most disadvantaged, is one of Sweden’s health cooperation priorities,” said H.E. Per Lindgärde, Ambassador of Sweden.

“We are therefore happy to continue to support the strengthening of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services to children and families in West Nile, which is among the most disadvantaged regions in Uganda.”

This new Government of Sweden contribution will support the districts of Adjumani, Arua, Koboko, Maracha, Moyo, Nebbi, Packwach, Yumbe and Zombo, by:

Investing in the capacity of health providers, basic medical equipment, and water and sanitation facilities, to improve the capacity of health facilities to provide quality health services to host and refugee communities;

  • Strengthening the capacity of District Local Government for equity-focused data analysis, programme planning and monitoring, and stronger leadership and governance for Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health;

  • And, building the capacity of communities to demand for and use quality health services, and to promote social accountability through greater linkages between health facilities, health unit management committees and village health teams.

“UNICEF’s vision and plan is to support the Government of Uganda to build a strong and resilient health system that reliably delivers integrated health services for children, adolescents and reproductive-age women,” said UNICEF’s Representative in Uganda, Dr. Doreen Mulenga.

“This new support from Sweden helps us to advance this vision, which will ultimately improve the health and well-being of hundreds of thousands of children and save more lives.”

This contribution has been planned to support around 480,000 children under the age of five, including 140,000 newborns, as well as 460,000 adolescents.

The Government of Sweden has been supporting UNICEF to strengthen the Ministry of Health's maternal, newborn, child

About SIDA

About the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency is a government agency, with the mission to reduce poverty in the world. SIDA carries out enhanced development cooperation with a total of 35 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. In Uganda, Sweden's support focuses on three main areas; human rights, democracy, the rule of law and gender equality; environment, climate change and sustainable inclusive economic development, and; equitable health including SRHR. Sweden also provides significant support to research cooperation in Uganda.

About UNICEF

UNICEF works in some of the world's toughest places, to reach the world's most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org

For more information, please contact:

Catherine Ntabadde, Communication Specialist, UNICEF Uganda, +256 772 629567, +256 703 729567, cntabadde@unicef.org

Andrew Byaruhanga, Trade Promotion and Communication Officer, Embassy of Sweden, +256 (0) 417 700 846, andrew.byaruhanga@gov.se