Integral to our mission of achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health, UNFPA Tanzania, as part of inter-agency efforts, works closely with government and partners to provide consistent and quality sexual and reproductive health care – including voluntary family planning and maternal and child health and HIV services – to displaced populations and local communities in the Kigoma Region of the country.

We procure and supply Emergency Reproductive Health Kits, which contain the life-saving equipment and supplies needed to meet the basic sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls, to all of our partners as part of a coordinated response. We also distribute UNFPA’s Dignity Kit to mothers and their newborns, adapted to the cultural practices and preferences of refugee women and adolescent girls in Tanzania. Restoring access to quality contraceptives to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections and HIV is also central to our response.

We deliver and support training on the Minimum Initial Service Package for the provision of emergency sexual and reproductive health services, including for safe deliveries, and deploy midwives to the camps to improve the coverage of maternal and child health services – including antenatal, postnatal and emergency obstetric and newborn care. We continue to train healthcare providers on-the-ground to effectively manage pregnancy-related complications.

Meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs and challenges of adolescents and young people –  both in the community and in refugee camps in Kigoma Region – remains a priority. We support dedicated adolescent and youth-friendly spaces that deliver a range of age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health services including: voluntary family planning; HIV voluntary counselling and testing; psychosocial counselling; and information on menstrual hygiene management.

Our humanitarian response includes meeting the needs of women and girls who are or have been subjected to gender-based violence, and we provide support for dedicated spaces that deliver medical services, including the management of rape, and psychosocial counselling.