Central/Southern Somalia operations
Since the collapse of the Somali government in 1991, UNICEF has continued to provide services to children and women in Central/Southern Somalia (subsequently referred to as the Central/Southern Zone - CSZ) as in the rest of the country.The strategies used in Central/Southern Somalia include emergency interventions, rehabilitation and development. UNICEF works with local administrations where they exist; such as the Middle Shabelle Authority, Somali communities, local and international NGOs and other UN agencies to help deliver services. The UNICEF programme in the zone operates from Jowhar where there is a main office and liaison offices in Mogadishu and Baidoa. The office in Jowhar has International and National UNICEF staff members, coordinated by a Chief of Field Office. The liaison offices are managed by national staff with continuous and timely technical and resource support through Jowhar depending on access. The contacts details of UNICEF offices are as follows: Jowhar Office: Tel: +252 1 613501/8. Other numbers: 252-1-211158/211058, 590099/561050 Under its mandate to further the survival, development, protection and participation of Somali children and youth, UNICEF, with its partner agencies, adopts a flexible approach in working with the different realities in the country. Efforts are concentrated at the community level, and strategies are designed to yield specific results. Emphasis is placed on working with communities to identify critical needs, and to prioritize provision of support where it is required. UNICEF mobilizes communities to take on the responsibility for management of services in addition to providing direct support. Communities are encouraged to be involved in decision-making to determine their priority needs and use of resources. Long-term rehabilitation and development efforts are also carried out, particularly where strong and effective administration exists. Among the earliest examples of successful public-private partnership projects is the Jowhar Water Supply System which UNICEF rehabilitated. Various projects supported by UNICEF and other organizations assist local administrations, as does collaboration to strengthen policy development and planning. Programme emphasis is placed on primary health care and nutrition, water and environmental sanitation (WES), and basic education, communication, protection and participation and planning, monitoring and evaluation. UNICEF, its partners and local authorities collaborate to address the following areas: • Health and Nutrition: improvement of the quality and sustainability of health facilities, health service delivery, micronutrient promotion, supplementary feeding and establishment of more accountable health management systems. • Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH): development of sustainable urban and rural water systems, improvement of hygiene and environmental sanitation at household and community level. • Education: system-wide education reforms, training in and utilization of new curriculum, syllabus and textbooks, the delivery of improved standards of learning and the development of education management systems at school and community level. • Communication, HIV, Empowerment and Protection (CHEP): Advocacy and mobilization of communities to address the emerging threat of HIV/AIDS, Protecting children against violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination, to support youth development and the total eradication of female genital mutilation (FGM), and to promote equal opportunities for empowerment of girls and women. Staffing UNICEF has 55 staff in Central/Southern Somalia. In Central Southern Zone, UNICEF staff are currently based at Jowhar, Wajid, Baidoa and Merka.
Central and southern Somalia continues to experience the characteristics of crisis and complex emergency, such as the displacement of people due to manmade and natural disasters including severe flooding and chronic drought.
In order to address the challenge of childhood illnesses, UNICEF supports about 90 Mother and Child Health Centres (MCHs) and almost 300 health posts in rural villages in partnership with about 25 international non-governmental organizations, about 15 local NGOs, Somali Red Crescent Society and about 15 community-based organizations. UNICEF also distributes insecticide treated nets for prevention of malaria.
Access to drinking water is still one of the major problems in the zone, considering that overall only 29 per cent of the population has access to safe drinking water. UNICEF has continued to support rehabilitation and digging of bore wells as well as train water and environment sanitation management committees. The problem of sanitation is daunting in Somalia, as only 37 per cent of the population has access to sanitary means of excreta disposal with traditional pit latrines account for 47 per cent of sanitation methods.
In the education sector, UNICEF assists schools in Central/Southern Somalia and elsewhere in the country with learning materials and provides in-service training and mentoring to improve the quality of teaching in schools. Payments of fees and salaries for teachers are a major challenge to parents. Other areas covered include child protection; HIV/AIDS; youth development and participation; and communication for development. UNICEF a few years ago completed a project that supported demobilization of 540 former child soldiers in Mogadishu and another that supported 231 street children in Beled Weyne through teaching of basic literacy skills in reading and writing as well as psychosocial support. In HIV/AIDS, activities focus is on ensuring an enabling environment for community based, multi-sectoral action to prevent and control the spread of the pandemic, with a focus on youth friendly services and a conducive policy environment through community sensitization and awareness raising. It has also established Voluntary Counselling and Testing sites in three hospitals (Hayat in Mogadishu, InterSoS in Jowhar and COSV in Merka). The youth development and participation project seeks to develop the organizational capacities of youth groups, provide opportunities for recreational and cultural activities, works closely with the education programme to support learning opportunities for youth and establishes effective networking and consultative structures that enable youth to take key roles and responsibilities in the community as agents of change. The communication for development programmes focuses on development of strategies for communication related to UNICEF programmes as well as social mobilization in support of the various sectors. Advocacy strategies are developed, through alliances and partnership networks, to create opportunities that allow children and youth to claim their participation rights. UNICEF is currently supporting communities through a participatory integrated community development (PICD) strategy that that promotes and builds on communities’ capacity. In its planning, monitoring and evaluation programme, UNICEF supports emergency preparedness and response planning (EPRP). UNICEF provides relief items (non-food items like blankets, tarpaulins, jerrycans) to people affected by floods, fires or victims of fighting .
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