The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Government of Guyana yesterday signed the Annual Work Plan for 2013 which will focus on several areas including child survival.
A release from UNICEF said, that the AWP plan, signed yesterday by Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and UNICEF Representative Dr Suleiman Braimoh, outlines priority activities that focus on specific interventions to be undertaken this year including the areas of child survival and development, child protection and participation, and adolescent development.
This year’s work plan is the second under the current five-year cycle of the country programme of cooperation for 2012-2016. UNICEF will continue implementation of evidence based programmes of action which support the rights and development of children and women which contribute towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in the areas of eliminating poverty and hunger, universal education, gender equality, maternal and child health and HIV/AIDS.
Another key area of focus will be on monitoring the situation of children and women in Guyana and continuing efforts towards the improvement of monitoring and evaluation systems which can produce quality data and analysis to help better understand and address issues affecting children and women
The release said the continued focus in the area of child survival, under the global initiative, ‘Committing to child survival: A promise renewed’, will contribute significantly to ensuring every child’s right to survive and thrive by minimizing preventable child deaths, giving children a healthy start to life, by ensuring newborns a safe delivery, proper nutrition, and protecting them from diseases like HIV, malaria and pneumonia.
Another area of focus is research in youth and adolescent development which will be used to identify the needs of vulnerable youth including out of school children and help develop strategies to improve the delivery of quality inclusive education.
