Nearly 1 Million Children in West Nile to Benefit from Better Quality Health Services

APO Group:

KAMPALA, Uganda, December 11, 2018/ — With new funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), nearly one million children in West Nile, including newborns and adolescents, together with pregnant women, will soon benefit from better quality health services.

“Supporting improvements in the health of children, adolescents and women, especially the most disadvantaged, is one of Sweden’s health cooperation priorities,” said H.E. Per Lindgärde, Ambassador of Sweden.

“We are therefore happy to continue to support the strengthening of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services to children and families in West Nile, which is among the most disadvantaged regions in Uganda.”

This new Government of Sweden contribution will support the districts of Adjumani, Arua, Koboko, Maracha, Moyo, Nebbi, Packwach, Yumbe and Zombo, by:

Investing in the capacity of health providers, basic medical equipment, and water and sanitation facilities, to improve the capacity of health facilities to provide quality health services to host and refugee communities;

Strengthening the capacity of District Local Government for equity-focused data analysis, programme planning and monitoring, and stronger leadership and governance for Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health;

And, building the capacity of communities to demand for and use quality health services, and to promote social accountability through greater linkages between health facilities, health unit management committees and village health teams.

“UNICEF’s vision and plan is to support the Government of Uganda to build a strong and resilient health system that reliably delivers integrated health services for children, adolescents and reproductive-age women,” said UNICEF’s Representative in Uganda, Dr. Doreen Mulenga.

“This new support from Sweden helps us to advance this vision, which will ultimately improve the health and well-being of hundreds of thousands of children and save more lives.”

This contribution has been planned to support around 480,000 children under the age of five, including 140,000 newborns, as well as 460,000 adolescents.

The Government of Sweden has been supporting UNICEF to strengthen the Ministry of Health’s maternal, newborn, child