UNICEF - Support to Unicef country program in DRC 2018-2021 UNICEF - Stöd till landprogram i DRK 2018-2021 New/additional funds to address COVID-19
UNICEF has submitted an application for support to its country program. This contribution is a consolidated support to the implementation of UNICEF country program in DRC, focusing on three thematic areas: health, protection of children who previously were involved in armed groups and strengthening vulnerable societies capacity to withstand recurrent crises (resilience).

The contribution is in line with the priorities of Sweden's Development Cooperation Strategy with DRC 2021-2025, specifically area 2: Equitable health and nutrition, result area 3: Inclusive and sustainable communities as well as our cross-cutting focus resilience/nexus by strengthening the resilience of vulnerable groups and societies.

This support will specifically contribute to improved access to high-quality care for children and pregnant women. Explicitly, the contribution’s results concern improved vaccination coverage, access to basic drugs to treat diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria at community levels, water and sanitation, and the strengthening of health systems for sustainability of the results. Attention to young women and adolescents' SRHR needs (including menstrual hygiene) is emphasized more than ever, in line with UNICEF Gender Action Plan (GAP) 2018-2021.

Children released from armed groups will have access to psychosocial assistance and be given support to reintegrate into their communities, resume their education or engage in economic activities. The contribution will also help strengthen resilience or reduce vulnerability (health/ nutrition, education, conflict transformation / reconciliation, water and sanitation, etc.) among internally displaced persons and local populations so that they can better prevent or cope with further crises in the future.

UNICEF's country program in DRC covered initially the period 2013-2017, it was later extended until 2019. The current program covers the period 2020-2024 and is based on UNICEF's global Strategic Plan 2018-2021 adopted by UNICEF's Board in 2017. The priority areas of the UNICEF country program are health, protection of vulnerable children (protection), education and humanitarian assistance and resilience.

Sida previously supported UNICEF DRC through three different contributions: one thematic support for health, one project's support for child protection and another for resilience. This contribution is a consolidated model and has gradually gathered all Swedish support to UNICEF DRC country program. This modality aims to increase both flexibility (easier planning and reinforcing synergies between interventions in the focus areas on the partner's side), but also cost-effectiveness by enabling better utilization of resources (including reduced administrative staff time and cost, joint follow-up, and dialogue meetings, etc.) for both UNICEF and the Embassy. In 2018, this support was directed to health, whereas in 2019 both health and protection of children associated with armed conflict will be supported. From 2020 the Embassy had only one comprehensive contribution to UNICEF country programme in DRC through all three focus areas (health, child protection and resilience). Nya medel/medeltillägg för att bekämpa covid-19
United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef) har vänt sig till Sida och ansökt om stöd till implementering av landprogrammet. Stödet är tematiskt och omfattar hälsa, skydd för barn som kommit i kontakt med väpnade grupper samt förstärkning av utsatta samhällens kapacitet att stå emot återkommande kriser.

Insatsen motsvarar Sveriges prioriteringar i den nuvarande strategin för utvecklingssamarbetet med DRK 2021-2025, särskilt avseende områdena förbättrad grundläggande hälsa och värnad om mänsklig säkerhet och frihet från våld.

Insatsen förväntas bidra till en förbättrad lokal tillgång till en högkvalitativ vård för barn och gravida kvinnor, särskilt avseende tillgång till vaccination och basläkemedel för diarréer, lunginflammation och malaria. Dessutom åsyftas en förbättrad tillgång till lokala vatten- och sanitetssystem samt ett allmänt förstärkt hälsosystem. I linje med Unicefs aktionsplan för genderfrågor (Gender Action Plan, 2018-2021) betonas särskilt unga kvinnors och ungdomars behov av stöd avseende sexuell- och reproduktiv hälsa och rättigheter (SRHR).

Vidare avser insatsen att ge de barn som deltagit i väpnade grupper tillgång till psykosocialt stöd. Dessutom omfattas stöd till barnens återintegrering i deras ursprungssamhällen, samt återupptagande av skolgång eller egen försörjning genom ekonomiska aktiviteter. Insatsen avser även bidra till att stärka och minska sårbarheten hos internflyktingar och lokalbefolkning genom bl.a. förbättrad hälsa, nutrition, utbildning samt vatten- och sanitet så att de lättare klarar av framtida kriser.

Unicefs landprogram i DRK nuvarande landprogram gäller för perioden 2020-2024. Programmet bygger vidare på Unicefs globala verksamhetsplan (2018-2021) som antogs av Unicefs styrelse år 2017.

Sida har tidigare gett stöd till Unicef i DRK genom tre olika insatser: ett tematiskt stöd till hälsa, ett projektstöd till barns skydd och ett projektstöd till resiliens. Denna insats kopplar samman de tidigare projektstöden. Det samlade stödet innebär ökad flexibilitet och effektivitet i planering och implementering, tack vare tydligare synergier mellan de berörda fokusområdena. Stödet bedöms även leda till en effektivare resursanvändning av personal samt ett effektivare samarbete mellan Unicef och ambassaden. This contribution aimed to support the implementation of UNICEF Country Programme in DRC 2018-2021, namely the achievement of the following goal areas:

Every child survives and thrives

In health, the objective of the intervention was specifically to increase the coverage of high impact interventions on maternal, adolescent and child health in the health zones and to encourage the adoption of responsible behaviours by adolescents and young people to prevent unwanted pregnancies, HIV/AIDS and human papilloma virus (HPV) as well as to support positive health policy development centrally and at intermediate levels in the country. It was expected that in four years time, three quarters of the 516 Health Zones in DRC would be able to provide the high impact interventions on maternal, adolescent and child health, and at least 80% of targeted villages certified as child-friendly communities.

Every child is protected from violence

With regard to protection, the objective was to contribute to promote governance for child protection and strengthening protective environment from all forms of violence in the country. In terms of results, the support contributed to identification, interim care and psychosocial support, reunification and reintegration measures and quality services for at least 50% of the affected children; as well as to operationalization of surveillance mechanisms (i.e. the "Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on Grave Child Violations of children's rights in armed conflicts (MRM) 1612" and the "Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Arrangements on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (MARA) 1888") in order to improve prevention of and response to grave violations of childrens rights. 

Every child lives in a safe and clean environment.

The interventions in transitional zones was aimed at improving coverage of basic social services and in strengthening communities' capacity to manage key risks and vulnerabilities. Results in terms of increased access to basic social services concern access to primary education, to health services including prevention and treatment of severe malnutrition, to safe water and sanitation. Strengthening community-level social protection neworks, including using cash transfer mechanisms.

The contribution was very much in line with the priorities outlined in the Swedish Development Cooperation Strategy with DRC 2015-2019 - specifically with respect to the objectives related to "Improving Basic Health and to "Protected Human Security and Freedom From Violence", including by strengthening the resilience of vulnerable groups and societies.