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Irish Aid provides Euro 1 million to UNICEF Eritrea for its Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) for 2020

Since 2015, Ireland has provided the Eritrea Humanitarian Action for Children with €5.5 million

26 May, Asmara - The Government of Ireland (Irish Aid) has contributed a grant of Euro 1 million to UNICEF Eritrea to support its 2020 Humanitarian Action for Children. This important funding will enable UNICEF to meet the critical humanitarian needs of children and women, and continue to support the joint achievements and progress on health and nutrition that have been realised to date.

Irish Aid has been providing support towards UNICEF’s HAC since 2015, and to date has provided a total of €5.5 million to support critical life-saving interventions and programmes that improve the lives of children and women in Eritrea.

“This funding will provide nutrition, medicine and vaccines for young children to help them to grow and thrive, as well as safe drinking water and sanitation facilities for vulnerable communities.

“Ireland’s support to UNICEF Eritrea is another tangible example of the longstanding ties of partnership and friendship which bind our two nations,” said H.E. Fionnuala Quinlan the Irish Ambassador.

Irish Aid funds will help procure therapeutic feeding supplies to treat children under five suffering from acute malnutrition and basic medicines to treat 30,000 children and vaccines for 50,000 eligible children; and will contribute to the training of 250 community health workers (including Barefoot Doctors) to reach children and women in hard to reach communities

The funds will support handwashing facilities in 150 health facilities and schools, and target 12,000 people in 10 communities to work towards an open-defecation free community, by providing training to adopt safe and appropriate hygiene practices.

Additionally, the funds will provide 1,500 people with access to safe drinking water from a newly constructed climate resilient solar powered water supply system and will contribute towards training of 1,000 Community Health Workers / Community volunteers on Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) at community level, early detection, early case finding and referral to health facilities and on appropriate community Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices.

“UNICEF Eritrea acknowledges Irish Aid for its valued and continued support to further strengthen government’s leadership and efforts to provide health, nutrition and water and sanitation services. This includes reinforcing community-based health system that caters to critical basic health services to children and women in the most hard-to-reach areas to ensure that no one is left behind,” said Shaheen Nilofer, UNICEF Representative.

UNICEF’s HAC for 2020 seeks US$18.8 million to address acute malnutrition, improving access to health care, immunization, and safe water, sanitation and hygiene practices, especially in remote and hard-to reach communities.

For more information contact:

Rabindra Giri, Communication Specialist rgiri@unicef.org