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7 February 2008 - Joint strategy meeting sets out vision for Sudan's children

Sudan’s Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan undertook a day of indepth discussions with UNICEF on Wednesday to finalise a shared programme of activities for children, to start in 2009.

The joint strategy meeting, the first to be held with UNICEF held in the Southern Sudanese city of Juba since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, was attended by senior government officials and technical experts from UNICEF Sudan, and aimed to establish agreed results and approaches that would help bring Sudan back on track to reach the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015.

In 2009, UNICEF will begin a new three year programme of cooperation with the Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan, focusing on reductions in child and maternal mortality, improving availability of clean water and sanitation, increasing access to education and creating a protective environment for children against violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination.

Yesterday’s meeting enable government and UNICEF representatives in Sudan to finalise the planned targets of the three-year programme, which will now be presented to UNICEF’s headquarters for approval.

Planned results include:

1. Ensuring that up to 95 per cent of children under the age of five have access to a minimum package of health and nutrition services.
2. Providing clean water to more than 2.4 million people for the first time, and re-establishing the supply of clean water to an additional 1.6 million people
3. Ensuring access to adequate sanitation for an additional 860,000 people.
4. Enabling 5.2 million children and young people have access to quality basic education and other forms of learning, in addition to ensuring that 1 million children currently out of school have access to alternative forms of education.
5. Increasing the prevalence of birth registration by 20 per cent and
6. Establishing wide ranging policies and community-based services for children in conflict with the law, victims of violence, abuse and exploitation, and children without parental care.

At the close of the meeting, H.E. Dr. Alfatih Ali Siddig, Under-Secretary, Ministry of International Cooperation of the Government of National Unity, H.E. Dr. Cirino Hiteng Ofuho, Under-Secretary, Ministry of Regional Cooperation of the Government of Southern Sudan, and Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Representative, agreed upon a joint communiqué, setting out the planned targets and strategies and underlining the commitment of the three partners to continued collaboration and cooperation to improve the quality of life for children across Sudan.

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