UNICEF Pacific in Vanuatu

UNICEF Pacific in Vanuatu Partner Update March April 2016 Photo: National Immunisation Week is held annually in April, supported by UNICEF. UNICEF /March 2015/Sevenier Highlights Schools and communities commemorated the one year anniversary of Cyclone Pam on 13 March 2016 Refurbishment of the National Vaccine Storage Facility is complete: the facility now meets WHO international standards Five UNICEF supported WASH recovery projects were approved by Government and will provide 2,500 people with improved water and sanitation The national immunisation coverage survey commenced with 21 data collection teams deployed across the country 163 schools in Tafea and Shefa Provinces received a one-time school grant from UNICEF to purchase education supplies and assist with repairs and other recovery needs Teachers in Tafea and Shefa Provinces participated in disaster risk reduction training, including development of classroom disaster response plans, to improve their preparedness for and resilience to severe weather events 163,413 people benefited from the mobile birth registration campaign, including 50,016 children and 113,397 adults 1

Overview 13 March 2016 marked the one year anniversary of Tropical Cyclone Pam hitting Vanuatu. Remembrance activities were carried out, including in schools where children and teachers still feel the trauma of that terrible time. UNICEF and Further Arts partnered to complete the triad of videos of children speaking about their experiences directly after the Cyclone, six months later, and twelve months later. These videos, as well as written content and photographs, were shared with UNICEF partners, National Committees, donors and the media to commemorate the strength and resilience of the people of Vanuatu; appreciate the recovery work, and highlight outstanding needs. In March and April, several Tropical Depressions brought significant rain to parts of Vanuatu, and in some cases, unwelcome flooding. Vanuatu also experienced a series of earthquakes in the last month. The latest was on 29 April, when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake was felt in Vanuatu, with its epicentre near Malekula. A tsunami alert was issued, but fortunately a tsunami was not generated and the alert was cancelled a few hours later. No serious injuries and no deaths were reported although homes and businesses suffered minor damage. Approximately 700 babies are being delivered at Port Vila Central Hospital every month. This is a notable increase compared to the capacity for which the maternity facilities were built and the patient load is challenging for the maternity facility and staff. The Ministry of Education is working on a policy for bilingual education in Vanuatu; if this is implemented, all children would be taught in both French and English rather than one or the other. The Prime Minister of Vanuatu signed the COP 21 Climate Change Agreement at the UN in New York, along with 12 other Pacific Island States. In his address to the UN, the Prime Minister shared his Government s plans to have 60% of electricity supply from renewable energy by 2020 and 100% by 2030. UNICEF continues to support the Government and people of Vanuatu through the Vanuatu National Recovery Plan (TC Pam) and through longer term development partnerships with Ministries. Joint UNICEF and Government work plans are being implemented in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene with Department of Geology, Mines and Water Resources (DGMWR); Health and Nutrition with Ministry of Health; Education with Ministry of Education and Training; and Child Protection with Ministry of Justice and Community Services, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and Training, and Department of Civil Registry. All of the work is based on the national priorities of the Government, and supports implementation of sector-specific plans and policies. Furthermore, each work plan is gender-sensitive, targets inequity and incorporates activities that build resilience to disaster and climate change. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) In response to severe El Nino drought conditions, a total of 5,298 women, men, girls and boys in the Shepherds and Efate Offshore Islands of Buniga, Emae, Emau, Lelepa, Makira, Mataso, Moso, Nguna, Pele, and Tongariki continue to be provided with clean, fresh water every month (1,192 cubic metres of water per month). This is through a contract between UNICEF and Kaleva Yachting Services (KYS) in support of the Department of Geology, Mines and Water Resources (DGMWR) response plan. Priority islands for delivery of desalinated water by KYS are determined by DGMWR based on fortnightly telephone survey monitoring by the National Disaster Management Office. 2

OXFAM continues to provide water, sanitation and hygiene messaging and clean water distribution to 1,812 children, women and men on the islands of Epi and Efate under a partnership agreement with UNICEF. As part of the Drinking Water Safety and Security Plans (DWSSP) to create new, safe and resilient water sources, 11 hand dug wells were constructed in eight communities and backup water systems installed in six communities. Additionally, 29 household water filters were distributed to seven communities to improve access to safe water. UNICEF provided financial and technical assistance to Oxfam to support the repair of 43 latrines and 35 bathing enclosures in eight communities in Epi. Through this same partnership, water supply infrastructure rehabilitation and installation were completed in 16 schools in Epi and Efate islands and a rainwater catchment tank installed in one primary school on East Efate. As part of WASH education and promotion activities, Oxfam organised community clean-up campaigns and beautiful latrine competitions in 10 communities. Prizes were given to the cleanest households and most beautiful latrines. The Department of Geology, Mines and Water Resources (DGMWR) is supervising a UNICEF and CARE International partnership in Vanuatu (covering the islands of Tanna, Erromango and Aniwa), for water source mapping, as part of preparation and resilience to climate change and disaster. With UNICEF funding support, water source mapping was also completed by DGMWR in Penama and Torba. Training of Trainer workshops were held on participatory hygiene and sanitation training on the islands of Tanna and Erromango. Menstrual hygiene management kits with reusable menstrual pads were also distributed to schools on Tanna for girls aged 12 years and older. The Department of Geology, Mines and Water Resources finalised their annual work plan which includes WASH recovery activities. These include five proposals that will be implemented through UNICEF contracts with World Vision and ADRA to implement water and sanitation programmes in East Malo, Lamap, and Wala Rano. These programmes aim to reach 2,500 people with water and sanitation. UNICEF and ADRA have also developed emergency water, sanitation and hygiene information, education and communication (IEC) materials. Upon the request of the DGMWR, a gap analysis of WASH infrastructure was completed to assist the tendering process for WASH recovery funds provided by the Government of Australia. A WASH in Schools data collection and analysis was done through the Vanuatu Education Management Information System. The analysis provided an overview of WASH infrastructure in schools and highlighted a need to expand the WASH in Schools programme. Health and Nutrition Refurbishment of the National Vaccine Storage Facility has been completed, bringing this facility up to WHO international standards for safe vaccine storage. Vaccines will be moved to this new facility in early May. The Maternal Child Health clinic attached to the National Vaccine Storage Facility has also been refurbished with additional work to improve accessibility for persons with disability. UNICEF also provided support to strengthen the vaccine cold chain capacity through the provision of solar powered refrigerators for six health facilities and repair of solar power refrigerators in four health facilities. As part of its regular programme, UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Health with its Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI) to ensure that all children receive vital vaccinations, including polio, measles and rubella. UNICEF released funds to the Ministry of Health to support immunisation outreach for the first quarter of 2016 for all six provinces of Vanuatu. The first round of immunisation outreach activities was completed in five provinces while outreach activities in Torba province are ongoing. UNICEF provided support to the Ministry of 3

Health for National Immunisation Week (24-30 April). An information, education and communication (IEC) package with relevant messages was disseminated through SMS, live radio performances and public service announcements. Through a partnership with Wan Smol Bag, a local non-government organisation, five communities in Port Vila enjoyed performances that highlighted the importance of immunisation. A children s book was also developed, with illustrations by local artists. The national Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) coverage survey began in March with 21 teams trained and deployed to collect samples across Vanuatu. Data collection is complete and is now being analysed, with the report expected to be published in June 2016. The report will provide an update to the 2013 Demographic and Health Survey s module on immunisation, and will include provincial level data for Malampa and Penama provinces. A Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) Coordinator, funded by DFAT and hired by UNICEF, arrived in April to support the Ministry of Health with implementing the RMNCAH programme. All four provincial RMNCAH coordinators (in Penama, Shefa, Malampa and Sanma) are implementing annual plans with Provincial Health Management Teams. Senior Ministry of Health staff and the Programme Coordinator participated in Pacific Heads of Health meetings, the first RMNCAH Joint Programme Partners Coordination meeting (sponsored by the Government of Australia), and maternal and child health and reproductive health meetings sponsored by the New Zealand Government all held in Suva, Fiji during the last week of April. Education Many children continue to attend school in tents or under tarpaulins provided as temporary learning spaces by UNICEF and other partners after TC Pam, although some schools have progressed with rebuilding. Reconstruction challenges, including funding, are serious. Given solar and wind exposure, as well as near daily heavy use, the tents, meant for temporary learning spaces, are unlikely to withstand a second academic year of exposure. UNICEF funds for the one-time school grant to assist 163 schools in Tafea and Shefa Provinces affected by TC Pam were disbursed to support school committees with minor repairs, acquisition of basic education supplies and minor reconstruction of school infrastructure, whilst awaiting full recovery reconstruction. Psychosocial support training was provided to 386 Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), primary and secondary school teachers from Tanna and Futuna islands to improve their own resilience and better equip them to respond to the psychosocial needs of children following a traumatic event. Teachers were provided psychosocial support materials including books and posters and have learnt about the healing benefits of relaxation exercises, music and art therapy and storytelling. UNICEF continues to support the Ministry of Education and Training to strengthening the national system on disaster risk reduction. This includes providing training to teachers on disaster risk reduction and providing technical advice on building back better. In Tafea and Shefa Provinces teachers participated in disaster risk reduction training, including training on developing and implementing classroom disaster response plans, to improve their preparedness for and resilience to severe weather events. UNICEF Vanuatu has received consignment of education supplies that includes recreation kits, Early Childhood Development kits and School-in-Boxes. 4

Child Protection Following the mass birth registration campaign for the provinces of Sanma and Torba, data entry is ongoing and expected to be complete in early May. A total of 163,413 people have been registered in the mobile registration campaign, including 50,016 children and 113,397 adults. A total of 36,765 children have so far been issued with replacement birth certificates throughout the six provinces (original target of 6,400) while 13,251 children were newly registered and issued with birth certificates. 85,183 adults were issued with replacement birth certificates and a total of 28,214 were registered for the first time. The Civil Registry Office and Provincial Civil Registry and Vital Statistics Committees have reviewed the mass campaign and identified gaps to formal registration and are taking steps to address these. Part of this strategy is to register adults and children missed during the campaigns, ensuring printed birth certificates reach intended people, and that new-born babies are systematically registered and issued with birth certificates. Additional data entry operators have been hired with the aim of completing data entry and the printing and distribution of certificates to people registered through the mass campaign by July 2016. The Natongtong Theatre group completed their planned performances of the community-based child protection drama. The play integrated messages on emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction and included community engagement and discussion following the performance. A total of 3,342 adults (including 1,834 females) and 2,262 children (including 1,202 girls) attended performances and engaged in community discussions on the islands of Efate, Tanna, Aniwa, Aneityum, Emae and Santo. UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Justice and Community Services with the development of a Child Protection Community Facilitation Package. The approach that appreciates the positive strengths of culture and community, in order to prevent child abuse and neglect. The facilitation materials will inform parents, caregivers and communities on positive parenting practices and better equip communities to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and cope with emergencies. Pre-testing was done at workshops on Santo and Tanna in April and feedback will be used to finalise the materials in the package. Funding UNICEF Pacific and its field office in Vanuatu are very grateful to have received 2015-2016 funds from Andorra, Australia, Estonia, France, Japan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Russia, the United Kingdom, the Oceania Football Confederation and the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. As per donor intent and conditions, some funds were used for cyclone relief and other funds are still being used for recovery and for longer term development work. The contributions of thousands of people to UNICEF National Committees for Australia, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the USA were crucial to Cyclone Pam relief. Donors who have permitted flexible re-orientation of funding to address the current El Nino challenges are highly appreciated. The Japanese Committee for Vaccines is a longstanding and critical partner. UNICEF Pacific is also grateful to donors who contribute every year at the global level to our core resources and to thematic areas within the UNICEF Global Strategic Plan. UNICEF spokesperson in Vanuatu: Andrew C. Parker Chief of Vanuatu Office acparker@unicef.org Mobile: +678 776 2306 For more information, please contact: Karen B. Allen Representative UNICEF Pacific kallen@unicef.org Isabelle Austin Deputy Representative UNICEF Pacific iaustin@unicef.org 5