2007-2009 Country Programme
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© UNICEF/MOZA0578/Pirozzi |
Helping children realise their full potential
UNICEF and the Government of Mozambique have agreed on a new Country Programme for the period 2007-2009, which aims to reduce disparities in the well-being of children by ensuring that vulnerable children in the most disadvantaged families and communities progressively realise their rights to survival, development, protection and participation.
The Country Programme 2007-2009 is fully in line with the Government’s poverty reduction strategy (PARPA) for 2006-2009, which is based on the Millennium Development Goals and strongly incorporates human rights principles, particularly those outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The new Country Programme’s key results are also aligned with the UNICEF Medium Term Strategic Plan (MTSP) for 2006-2009. It derives and contributes directly to selected outcomes of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), with particular focus on the human capital and HIV/AIDS pillars.
In spite of improvement in the situation of Mozambican children in recent years, the level of child well-being varies greatly across the country. The Country Programme supports national efforts to improve service delivery in the areas of education, health, nutrition, water and sanitation and protection, with particular focus on the most vulnerable and marginalised children in order to reduce existing disparities. The response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic remains a top priority as HIV prevalence increased from 8.2 per cent in 1998 to 16.2 per cent in 2004.
Programmes and key results
The 2007-2009 Country Programme consists of four core programmes –child health and nutrition; water, sanitation and hygiene; basic education; child protection– and one cross-sectoral programme –social policy, advocacy and communication.
The child health and nutrition programme supports interventions to address the underlying causes of the high mortality and poor nutritional status of children, including inadequate access for the most vulnerable children to integrated child health and nutritional services and gaps in health policy, institutional capacity and quality of service.
The key results are:
- National budgets, policies, sectoral strategies and annual plans prioritise issues related to maternal, neonatal and child health and nutrition;
- At least 80 per cent of health facilities and community outreach services have improved quality of care in the prevention and the management of neonatal conditions and childhood illness in targeted districts;
- At least 90 per cent of 1 year-old children are immunised against DPT3 and 90 per cent against measles through implementation of the Reach Every District (RED) approach in 45 districts with low coverage;
- At least 70 per cent of vulnerable children under five receive health facility and/or community-level preventive and curative interventions addressing nutritional deficiencies as required in targeted districts;
- At least 22,000 HIV positive pregnant women and their newborns receive the full Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) package in supported sites;
- At least 8,000 children living with AIDS eligible for ARV therapy receive treatment in supported sites, along with an integrated package of medical, nutritional and psycho-social support and home-based care.
The water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme addresses low coverage levels, poor service delivery and weak sustainability of water and sanitation facilities, and supports national efforts to reduce the incidence of diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera.
The key results are:
- National level policies, strategies, and plans prioritise vulnerable groups to reduce disparities in access to water and sanitation and hygiene;
- Decentralised planning, monitoring, evaluation and management procedures for drinking water and sanitation in targeted provinces are operationalised;
- At least one million new users, prioritising vulnerable groups, have access to and use safe water and appropriate sanitation and improved hygiene practices in targeted districts, particularly during emergencies;
- At least 80 per cent of primary schools in targeted districts have water and sanitation services and hygiene education programmes.
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© UNICEF/MOZA00698/ G.Pirozzi |
The basic education programme addresses the poor quality of primary education, focusing on girls and orphaned and vulnerable children.
The key results are:
- National plans and budgets prioritise primary education and include strategies to increase quality, equity and emergency preparedness;
- At least 90 per cent of all girls and boys in targeted districts are enrolled in primary school and 60 per cent complete primary education;
- At least 80 per cent of children aged 10-14 in primary schools in targeted districts have correct information, attitudes, and relevant skills to reduce the risk and vulnerability to HIV.
The child protection programme works to ensure that children are better protected from violence, exploitation and abuse, and have access to basic services and social protection.
They key results are:
- The Children’s Act is implemented and monitored through specialised structures;
- Children in targeted districts are living in a community environment that supports the realisation of their right to protection from sexual violence, exploitation and abuse;
- At least 50 per cent of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) targeted by the PARPA, together with their families, have access to basic services and social protection.
The social policy, advocacy and communication programme is cross-sectoral, with both oversight and supportive functions. It has two components:
- Social policy, planning, information and monitoring. Focus will be placed on advocacy, policy review and development, subnational capacity development, and monitoring and evaluation.
- Programme communication. Emphasis will be placed on supporting children and communities to adopt and maintain positive and healthy behaviours and promote social change.
Strategies
The design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all programmes are undertaken based on the following strategies:
- Focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized children, particularly orphaned children and those in remote rural areas, to reduce disparity.
- Institutional capacity development to ensure high-quality service delivery, particularly at subnational level, complemented at the local level by community capacity development.
- Evidence-based advocacy for child rights to leverage knowledge and resources for children and policy dialogue, development and analysis to ensure that children are placed at the centre of the development agenda.
- HIV/AIDS and gender are mainstreamed in each programme component. In line with the Core Commitments for Children, emergency preparedness and response are also mainstreamed, including support of national capacities to respond to sudden-onset emergencies (natural disasters and disease outbreaks), and the longer-term vulnerabilities caused by the Triple Threat of food insecurity, HIV/AIDS and weakened coping capacities.
The budget
The total resources required for the three-year Country Programme is $88,653,000 US dollars (excluding emergency funds).
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