JAPAN PARTNERING WITH UNFPA TO SUPPORT MATERNAL HEALTH SERVICES IN KIGOMA
Dar es Salaam,
The Embassy of Japan in Tanzania and UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, today signed a funding agreement for support to sustain life-saving interventions to prevent maternal death in Nyarugusu and Nduta refugees camps in Kasulu and Kibondo districts respectively as well as the host communities of the Kigoma region.
The signed agreement allocates USD 359,964 (Equivalent to TZS 921,000,000) to supply reproductive health commodities in the refugee camps and the host community over 2024. Additionally, funds will procure essential medical equipment and train frontline health workers to ensure the delivery of quality sexual and reproductive health services.
Over 113,000 individuals, encompassing women, adolescent girls and boys, first-time young mothers, among others, stand to benefit from this new partnership between Japan and UNFPA.
At the signing ceremony in Dar es Salaam, His Excellency Mr. Yasushi Misawa, Japan’s Ambassador to Tanzania, emphasised,
“Japan is committed to improving the health of people around the world by achieving Universal Health Coverage”.
Japan's dedication extends beyond health initiatives. Driven by its global leadership in universal health coverage and its human security policy, Japan invests in projects that improve livelihoods of women and protect women and children affected by conflicts and natural disasters.
Mr. Mark Bryan Schreiner, UNFPA's Country Representative to the United Republic of Tanzania, commented,
“UNFPA is on the ground delivering for women & girls. Thanks to Japan funding, UNFPA is delivering life-saving care to women & girls in Nyarugusu and Nduta camps being hosted by the United Republic of Tanzania..”
On average, Nyarugusu and Nduta camps witness approximately 2,004 pregnancies every month, with approximately 201 women encountering complications or resulting in miscarriages.
While UNFPA and collaborating organisations achieved zero maternal deaths in Nyarugusu refugee camp in 2022, the recent influx of asylum seekers from Democratic Republic of Congo has further strained the healthcare infrastructure within the camps. This strain, coupled with potential deficiencies in Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC), sexual and reproductive health (SRH), and gender-based violence (GBV) services, heightens the risk of maternal and neonatal mortality and unwanted pregnancies.
UNFPA is collaborating with its’ camp-based and host community implementing partners, namely the Tanzania Red Cross Society (TRCS), Kigoma Regional Administrative Secretary (RAS Kigoma) and Borderless Tanzania Limited, a group company of Borderless Japan Corporation.
Japan's financial assistance underscores its enduring commitment to addressing humanitarian crises through a human security lens. These funds are channelled through various institutions, including UNFPA.
Japan stands as a global leader in advocating for universal health coverage. Within these endeavors, Japan prioritizes strengthening sustainable health systems that ensures comprehensive and continuous care for mothers and children. To achieve this, Japan focuses on providing essential services accessible to women at all stages of pregnancy, including adolescence and family planning, as well as for newborns and infants. Japan also has been steadfast partner for investment in women's livelihoods, safeguarding those affected by conflicts and natural disasters, and championing women's participation in societal roles.
Japan’s partnership with UNFPA aims to enhance the health and well-being of women and children. Key areas of joint action encompass delivering reproductive health services in conflict zones, establishing safe spaces, combating gender-based violence, and improving access to maternal, newborn, and emergency obstetric care across the Middle East and Africa. Additionally, Japan and UNFPA collaborate on population-related topics, including ageing, low fertility rates, and human security.
Highlighting its commitment, Japan secured the position as the second-largest humanitarian donor in 2022 and ranked among the top ten contributors to UNFPA's core resources.
Ends
*NOTE TO THE EDITOR*
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Japan Support
Japan has been conducting various projects through international organisations for the empowerment of women and youth.
The specific areas are
(i) promoting women and girls’ rights,
(ii) improving an enabling environment for women and girls to reach their full potentials, and
(iii) advancing women’s leadership in political, economic, and other public fields
Relationship with SDGs
The proposed project contributes to SDG 3 (good health and wellbeing) and SDG 5 (gender equality). It also fully aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), UNFPA Tanzania 9th CPD and humanitarian assistance strategy in the following thematic result areas: Healthy Nation (health and HIV AIDS); Human Rights & Gender Equality and Resilience (Refugee and Migrants), and the sectoral responses enshrined within the 2023 DRC Regional Refugee Response Plan.
It also fully aligns with UNFPA's humanitarian response strategy and three transformative results by 2030 i.e.,
1. End preventable maternal deaths,
2. End unmet need for family planning and,
3. End gender-based violence and all harmful practices.
About UNFPA
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. We promote gender equality and empower women, girls and young people to take control of their bodies and their futures. We work with partners to provide access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services. Our goal is ending unmet need for family planning, preventable maternal death, and gender-based violence and harmful practices including child marriage and female genital mutilation by 2030.
Our Motto is Ensuring Rights and Choices for all
The goal of UNFPA is to ensure sexual and reproductive rights and choices for all, especially women and young people, so that they can access high-quality sexual and reproductive health services, including voluntary family planning, maternal health care and comprehensive sexuality education. All of our work is grounded in human rights and respect for culture. Our work on their behalf is informed by an understanding of population dynamics, human rights and cultural sensitivities.
OUR 3 TRANSFORMATIVE RESULTS
In 2018, UNFPA launched efforts to achieve three transformative results, also known as the three zeros, by 2030:
● Ending unmet need for family planning: Zero unmet need for family planning. We are the world’s single-largest provider of donated contraceptives to developing countries, and our programmes increase the availability of contraceptives and dismantle barriers to services.
● Ending preventable maternal death: Zero preventable maternal deaths. We help strengthen health systems, train and educate health workers and midwives, and improve access to a full range of reproductive health services. Our support for women’s maternal health is especially significant in 32 countries with the highest rates of maternal mortality and morbidity.
● Ending gender-based violence and harmful practices: Zero gender-based violence and harmful practices. We work with policymakers, justice systems and health systems and engage men and boys to advance gender equality. We protect survivors of gender-based violence by providing a combination of essential services, including in humanitarian crises.
About Borderless Tanzania Limited
Borderless Tanzania Limited, a group company of Borderless Japan Corporation, manufactures high-quality sanitary pads in Tanzania. The company has introduced a system that for every package purchased, 1 pad is donated to a needy student along with menstrual health education.
For further information please contact:
Warren Bright,
Communications Analyst,
UNFPA Tanzania,
Email: bwarren@unfpa.org,
Mobile: +255 764 43 44 45
