UNICEF in action
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© UNICEF_Sri Lanka/2006 |
During 2005, UNICEF’s early childhood programmes in Sri Lanka focused first on meeting the immediate health needs of tsunami survivors and then concentrating on meeting the continued health and nutrition needs of mothers and children and the long term rehabilitation of health services in selected districts of Sri Lanka. Working under three broad areas of action, main achievements have included:
Reducing maternal and neonatal mortality: The main areas of focus include improving access and quality of emergency obstetric care and neonatal care through upgrading labour and maternity wards, provision of emergency obstetric care and neonatal care equipment, upgrading the knowledge and skills of health workers and strengthening the referral system for women who face difficulties during labour.
- Maternal and peri-natal reviews: UNICEF supported the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition to conduct Maternal and Peri-natal Mortality Reviews in 20 of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka.
- Upgrading Health Facilities across the country: UNICEF has supported renovation of 35 maternity units; supply of essential obstetric and neonatal care equipment to 59 labour wards; training of all health staff working in labour rooms at 59 hospitals in emergency obstetric care and neonatal care.
Improving child survival and growth of children: Given Sri Lanka’s achievements in child survival, the focus has been on supporting actions to improve infant and young child feeding and facilitate policy development on nutrition.
- Care for pregnant mothers: As part of improving maternal nutrition and low birth weight, UNICEF has supported the Government of Sri Lanka in promoting pre-natal nutrition services that include iron and folate supplementation, deworming, monitoring the nutritional status of expectant mothers and nutrition counselling.
- Improving quality of childcare in health facilities: UNICEF has constructed and equipped 49 Maternal and Child Health Centres and renovated 4 paediatric wards.
- Promotion of appropriate Infant and young child feeding: UNICEF supported training of more than 2,000 health service providers on lactation management and established six Lactation Management Centres in major maternity hospitals.
- Growth Monitoring and Promotion: UNICEF has continued to support the printing and distribution of over 350,000 Child Development Records annually to monitor and promote growth of children through a process that involves empowering caregivers to interpret the growth curve of children and to take appropriate action in case growth is faltering.
- Control of micronutrient deficiencies: UNICEF supports an island-wide vitamin A supplementation programme and Universal Salt Iodisation. ? Nutrition policy development: UNICEF has continued to support the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition to develop a national nutrition policy for Sri Lanka and review the Breastfeeding policy & National Code of Marketing Breast Milk Substitutes.
- Rapid nutrition assessments: Jointly with WFP and the Medical Research Institute of the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition, three rounds of nutrition surveys were conducted in 12 tsunami affected districts to monitor the nutritional status of children affected by the tsunami.
Improving cognitive, social and emotional development of children in early childhood: The main focus in this area has been on improving the care and nurturing that children receive at home and in child development centres (preschools and crèches) through building the knowledge and skills of caregivers .
- In 2005, UNICEF facilitated training of 122 master trainers and 2,200 peripheral service providers in integrated early childhood care and development.
- Over 150,000 communication materials containing advocacy materials on early childhood and key messages on child care practices were printed & distributed.
- The introduction of the “child-friendly development centres” concept was strongly pursued to get the country’s largely unregulated preschools to follow uniform standards of child development. To this effect 21 maternal and child clinics were provided with play and outdoor materials; in the estate sector 988 Child Development Centres transformed into Child-friendly Development Centres.
Malnutrition
UNICEF's assessment of malnutrition in Sri Lanka
