Partnering for the Well-Being of Women and Children in Chad
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PARTNERING FOR THE WELL-BEING OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN CHAD UNICEF and the Government of Chad programme of cooperation since 2012 unitunite feor f orchildr childrenen © UNICEF 2015 Supervision: Bruno Maes Coordination: Lalaina Fatratra Andriamasinoro Writer, layout & design: Tamara Sutila Contents Dear Friends 2 UNICEF in Chad 4 What UNICEF and Partners want to achieve 7 What is it like to be a child in Chad? 8 Achieving success through partnership 10 Polio-free Chad 11 Refocusing on routine immunization 14 Combatting other diseases 16 Longer lives for mothers and children 16 Going for universal coverage 21 Revitalizing basic education 24 Saving lives in Chad’s Sahel Belt 28 Nutrition: on top of the government’s agenda 30 Delivering the basics of life 34 Protective environment for children 38 Complex and multiple emergencies 42 Advocating for children 46 Funding 50 Thank you! 52 PARTNERING FOR THE well-being OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN CHAD | 1 Dear friends, The past three years have been an exceptional journey for UNICEF in Chad. As the country began to rebuild itself after the end of the conf lict in 2008, doors have been opened for UNICEF and our many donors and partners to signif icantly advance children’s and women’s rights. 2 | PARTNERING FOR THE well-being OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN CHAD We seized these opportunities with energy and determination. And the results speak for themselves - polio eradicated in the country in a span of two years, prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services scaled up from 34 to 75 per cent coverage in just a year and close to half a million children on the brink of starvation treated successfully for severe acute malnutrition in the Sahel belt. The country has also been removed from the list of countries recruiting child soldiers, promulgated an ordinance to end child marriage, provided quality education for a million children, distributed long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLITNs) to all households in the country, and scaled up of water, sanitation and hygiene services in water-scarce, disease-prone and emergency-affected areas of Chad. UNICEF and its partners have led intensive advocacy efforts, leading to substantial developments in policies, strategies and national programming. These include the recently approved Community Health Policy, the Nutrition Policy, the establishment of the Water and Sanitation Compact and the National Strategy for Sanitation and Hygiene, the Interim Strategy for Education, the Social Protection National Strategy and the new e-PMTCT national framework. The UNICEF country programme has made progress in leaps and bounds in many areas. It has not been without its challenges. But our vision has remained steadfast—to ensure that all children living in Chad, and especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, are given the best start in life, the best opportunities to be healthy, to grow and to develop, and the best protection against harm. We could not have achieved any of this without the solid partnership we have with the Government of Chad and our non-profit, NGO, community, faith-based, media and corporate partners. Their commitment and willingness to make Chad a better place for children is exemplary. We also extend our gratitude to our generous resource partners, without whom we could not have had the positive impact we made on children’s lives. We look to the future with optimism and with the willingness to work harder and more effectively for Chad’s children. Bruno Maes UNICEF Representative in Chad PARTNERING FOR THE well-being OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN CHAD | 3 UNICEF IN CHAD Chad: a nation with challenges and opportunities year national development plan bettering the lives of children Chad is one of the most to make Chad a middle-income and women, and reaching the challenging places in the country. The aim is to promote Millennium Development Goals world to be a child and different sources of growth and (MDGs). strong social development, with woman. With poverty Chad’s post-independence history a focus on access to quality affecting almost half of has been marked by civil strife social services, food, housing and violence, which has pushed the country’s population, and training. Human capital back the pace of development. food insecurity and development has been chosen as The most recent Chadian civil war one of the six pillars of this plan. malnutrition putting raged from 2005 to 2008 but a thousands of young lives However, a key challenge will be peace process has been in place at risk, massive inf lux to ensure that resources are used since the end of the conflict, effectively to alleviate poverty and allowing the country to recover of refugees, returnees promote equitable development. and re-establish political stability. and internal displaced Chad continues to be close to people and limited the bottom of the UN Human However, Chad continues to be affected by on-going conflicts access to quality social Development Index, coming in at 184 out of 187 countries surveyed in neighbouring countries. In services, the survival and in 2013. This trend in stagnated 2015, Chad played host to development of children human well-being has not 700,000 displaced people, mainly hang in precarious changed much from when data refugees and Chadian returnees from Sudan, Nigeria, Libya and balance. was first recorded 25 years ago. The reasons for this are many. the Central African Republic. Yet the country has opportunities The displacement of people, to promote growth and Social inequalities are high with including refugees and returnees, development. Africa’s fifth largest 52 per cent of rural people living is a major driver of the country’s nation, Chad is rich in gold and in poverty compared to 21 per humanitarian crisis. uranium. It also stands to benefit cent in urban areas. Challenging from its recently-acquired status governance, widespread poverty, As a Sahel country, Chad is as an oil-exporting nation. The social disparities and inadequate chronically food-insecure, with country is working on its 2030 funding of basic social services child malnutrition as a major Vision as well as its next five- remain significant barriers to threat to the survival and 4 | PARTNERING FOR THE well-being OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN CHAD UNICEF focuses its efforts ‘upstream’ to create an enabling national policy and legislative environment for child rights, and ‘downstream’, prioritising geographical areas or population groups that are the most vulnerable, disadvantaged and under- reached by essential social services. PARTNERING FOR THE well-being OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN CHAD | 5 development of children. The Working on all levels National Programme (PND) rate of severe acute malnutrition UNICEF focuses its efforts as well as the Interim UN in the Sahel belt of the country ‘upstream’ to create an enabling Development Assistance is frequently above the WHO national policy and legislative Framework. UN coherence emergency threshold of 15 environment for child rights, represents a key priority with per cent. The country is also and ‘downstream’, prioritising the current request from the prone to recurrent and cyclical geographical areas or population government to adopt the ‘Deliver natural disasters such as floods groups that are the most as One’ approach. and droughts, and outbreaks of vulnerable, disadvantaged and The country programme also diseases like measles, malaria under-reached by essential social incorporates human rights, and cholera. services. The overall aim is to gender and equity approaches reduce social disparities and build to achieving results for children The country programme resilience among communities and women. It furthermore The 2012-2016 Government of affected by crises and shocks to contributes to the achievement Chad-UNICEF country programme their livelihoods. of the MDGs in Chad and is was launched in 2012 after an aligned with the new UNICEF extensive consultative process Over the past years, UNICEF has progressively shifted from Global Strategic Plan covering with the Government of Chad 2014-2017, following a mid-term and other key stakeholders. emergency to development programming as the country review process at the end of It is one of many in the long 2014. history of partnership between recovers from the civil the government, partners and war. However, maintains a UNICEF, which began in 1961. strong cross-cutting focus on humanitarian action and The current country programme emergency response to deal has six programme components with recurring climate-induced - child survival and development, emergencies and disease which comprises of sub- outbreaks, as well as the ongoing components health, nutrition, nutritional crisis and impact of water, sanitation and hygiene conflicts in neighbouring countries (WASH) and HIV and AIDS; basic into Chad. education and gender parity; child protection; three cross- Part of a bigger whole cutting components of strategic For the country programme to communication; social policy, work coherently as part of a planning and monitoring and coordinated effort to advance evaluation; and humanitarian Chad’s development, it has been action and emergency response. aligned with the Development 6 | PARTNERING FOR THE well-being OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN CHAD WHAT UNICEF AND Social policy, planning and monitoring PARTNERS WANT TO ACHIEVE and evaluation Improved data and evidence on, and analysis of, the situation of children and women, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized, in order to develop a child- Basic education and gender parity and gender-sensitive social protection programme. Improved availability and access to quality primary education, especially for girls, nomadic children, children with disabilities, orphaned children and children affected by conflict and disaster. Child protection Strengthened assistance and protection for children affected by violence, exploitation and abuse, including gender-based violence. CHAD Strategic communication Enhanced advocacy and Child survival and support to help individuals, development parents and caregivers adopt Enhanced access to, use key family practices that and coverage of high impact improve the well-being of child and maternal health children.