Cover photo: © UNICEF Pacific / JHing/ 2010 Pacific Emergency Response Team (UNICEF Pacific) PFTAC...

Cover photo: © UNICEF Pacific / JHing/ 2010

CONTENT

Abrreviations i

MessagefromUNICEFPacificRepresentative,DrIsiyeNdombi vii Overview ix

Progressagainstkeymanagementresultsin2010andpriorityactionsfor2011 1 HealthandSanitation 2

ChildProtection 6

HIVandAIDS 10

Education 14

Policy,Advocacy,PlanningandEvaluation 18

Gender 22

EmergencyPreparednessandResponse 24

Operations 28

InnovationsandLessonsLearnt 32

RealLifeStories 35

ExamplesofStudies,SurveysandEvaluationscompletedin2010 41

ExamplesofKnowledgeProductsdevelopedin2010 44

SomeKeyEventsin2011forUNICEF 49

Annex

• UNICEFPacificOrganisationStructure 53• FinancialReport2011 55

AbbreviationsADB AsianDevelopmentBankAMP AnnualManagementPlanANC AntenatalCareAWP AnnualWorkPlanAusAID AustralianAgencyforInternationalDevelopmentAYA AustralianYouthAmbassadorBCP BusinessContinuityPlanBFHI BabyFriendlyHospitalInitiativeCBOs Community-BasedOrganizationsCCCs CoreCommitmentsforChildrenCDC CentreforDiseasesControl(Atlanta,USA)CDM CountryDevelopmentManagerCEDAW ConventionontheEliminationofallFormsofDiscriminationC4D CommunicationforDevelopmentCFS ChildFriendlySchoolCMT CountryManagementTeamCOPE CouncilofPacificEducatorsCPAP CountryProgrammeActionPlanCPD CountryProgrammeDocumentCPG CommunicationsandPartnershipGroupCPMP CountryProgrammeManagementPlanCRC ConventionontheRightsoftheChild/ContractsReviewCommitteeDCT DirectCashTransferDevINFO DevelopmentInformation:GeographicInformationSystemDHS DemographicHealthSurveyDP DevelopmentPartner/sEAPRO EastAsiaandPacificRegionalOfficeECE EarlyChildhoodEducationEFA EducationforAllEiE EducationinEmergenciesEPI ExpandedProgrammeonImmunisationEU EuropeanUnion

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FAO FoodandAgricultureOrganisationFSM FederatedStatesofMicronesiaGEC GlobalEconomicCrisisGFATM GlobalFundtoFightAIDS,TuberculosisandMalariaGTF GenderTaskForceHACT HarmonizedApproachtoCashTransferH&S HealthandSanitationHIV/AIDS HumanImmunodeficiencyVirus/AcquiredImmuneDeficiency SyndromeHRBA HumanRightsBasedApproachHRDT HumanResourceDevelopmentteamICATT IMCIComputerizedAdaptationandTrainingToolICT InformationCommunicationTechnologyIFE InfantFeedinginEmergenciesILO InternationalLabourOrganisationIMCI IntegratedManagementofChildhoodIllnessesICT Information,CommunicationandtechnologyIYCF InfantandyoungchildfeedingJCC JointConsultativeCommitteeJCV JapanCommitteefortheVaccinesfortheWorld’sChildrenJICA JapanInternationalCooperationAgencyKAP Knowledge,attitudesandpracticesLLEE LiveandLearnEnvironmentalEducationLPA LocalProcurementAuthorityM&E MonitoringandEvaluationMARA MostAtRiskAdolescentsMCHN MaternalchildhealthandnutritionMDG MillenniumDevelopmentGoalsMDGI MillenniumDevelopmentGoalsInitiativeMEHRD MinistryofEducationandHumanResourceDevelopment (SolomonIslands)MICS Multi-IndicatorClusterSurveyMISA MinistryofInternalandSocialAffairs(Kiribati)MMR MaternalMortalityRatioMOH MinistryofHealth

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MoU MemorandumofUnderstandingMQSS MinimumQualityServiceStandardsforSchoolsMSC MostSignificantChange(Technique)MTR Mid-TermReviewMTSP Medium-TermStrategicPlanNACC NationalAdvisoryCommitteeforChildrenNCCC NationalCoordinatingCommitteeforChildrenNDMO NationalDisasterManagementOfficeNGO Non-governmentOrganisationsNSC NationalSteeringCommitteeNYHQ NewYorkHeadquartersNZAID NewZealandAgencyforInternationalDevelopmentOPSCEN OperationsCentreORS OralRehydrationSaltPasEFIC PartnershipofExcellenceforPacificIslandChildrenPAPE Policy,Advocacy,PlanningandEvaluationPBR ProgrammeBudgetReviewPCA ProjectCooperationAgreementPCDF PartnersinCommunityDevelopmentPEDF PacificEducationDevelopmentFramework2009-2015PERT PacificEmergencyResponseTeam(UNICEFPacific)PFTAC PacificFinancialTechnicalAssistanceCentrePHAST ParticipatoryHygieneandSanitationTransformationPIDB ProgrammeInformationDatabasePIC PacificIslandscountryPIPS PacificImmunizationProgrammeStrengtheningPIF PacificIslandsForumPIFS PacificIslandsForumSecretariatPLHIV PeoplelivingwithHIVPM&E PlanningMonitoringandEvaluationPTCT PreventionofParent-to-ChildTransmissionPNG PapuaNewGuineaPPP ProgrammepolicyandplanningPRIDE PacificRegionalInitiativesfortheDeliveryofbasicEducationPRISP PacificRegionalHIVandAIDSStrategicPlan

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ProMS ProgrammeManagementSystemsPSB PropertySurveyBoardPRUIDE PacificRegionalInitiativefortheDeliveryofEducationRARP ReconstructionandRehabilitationProjectRBPM Results-basedPlanningandManagementRH ReproductiveHealthRMI RepublicoftheMarshallIslandsRR RegularResourcesRRF ResultsandResourcesFrameworkSIA SupplementaryImmunizationActivitySIBC SolomonIslandsBroadcastingCorporationSIEMIS SolomonIslandEducationManagementInformationSystemSIPPA SolomonIslandsPlannedParenthoodAssociationSOPAC SouthPacificAppliedGeoscienceCommissionSPBEA SouthPacificBoardforEducationalAssessmentSPC SecretariatofthePacificCommunitySSM SentinelSiteMonitoringSTIs SexuallytransmittedinfectionsSWAp SectorwideapproachTA TechnicalAssistanceTOA TableofAuthorityTOR TermsofreferenceUN UnitedNationsUNAIDS JointUnitedNationsProgrammeonHIV/AIDSUNCT UnitedNationsCountryTeamUNDAF UnitedNationsDevelopmentAssistanceFrameworkUNDG UnitedNationsDevelopmentGroupUNDMT UnitedNationsDisasterManagementTeamUNDP UnitedNationsDevelopmentProgrammeUNDSS UnitedNationsDepartmentofSafetyandSecurityUNESCAP UnitedNationsEconomicandSocialCommissionforAsiaPacificUNESCO UnitedNationsEducation,ScientificandCulturalOrganisationUNFPA UnitedNationsPopulationFundUNGG UNGenderGroupUNICEF UnitedNationsChildren’sFund

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UNIFEM UnitedNationsDevelopmentFundforWomenUNOCHA UnitedNationsOfficefortheCoordinationofHumanitarianAffairsUNOHCHR UnitedNationsOfficeoftheHighCommissionerforHumanRightsUPR UniversalPeriodicReviewUPSA UNICEFPacificStaffAssociationUSP UniversityoftheSouthPacificVEMIS VanuatuEducationManagementInformationSystemVERM VanuatuEducationRoadMapVII VaccineIndependenceInitiativeVMAT VaccineManagementandColdChainAssessmentVSAT VerySmallApertureTerminalWASH WaterSanitationandHygieneWFFC WorldFitforChildrenWHO WorldHealthOrganisationWVI WorldVisionInternationalYFHS Youthfriendlyhealthservices

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Message from the RepresentativeThis Looking Back and Moving Forward report for 2010 and 2011, respectively, charts our report-card

and plans on the distance we are travelling along with our partners, through the 2008-2012

multi-country programme, to ensure that all the human rights of children are fulfilled, respected and

protected in every Pacific island country and community.

The kudos for the achievements recorded in 2010 go to my hard-working UNICEF colleagues, Pacific

Island governments and partners who continue to provide great leadership despite major capacity

constraints and many current and emerging challenges. Through collaborative efforts, we have shown

that significant progress can be made for children.

You’ll notice that we placed a lot of emphasis on partnerships, new (and innovative) ways of doing

things, aiming to close existing gaps and ensuring that our data was more reliable, reportable and

useable.

Two (Cook Islands and Niue) of the five Pacific countries that had not submitted the initial Convention

on the Rights of the Child (CRC) reports did so in 2010. Tuvalu completed its report and will likely

submit in early 2011. We hope that Nauru and Tonga will complete and submit their reports during

2011.

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The Mid-Term Review of the UNICEF-supported multi-country programme identified at least three key

strategic drivers of successful development performance:

a. Data integrity to maximize the value and returns from development-focused investable

dollars.

b. Focus on reducing inequities in the region, countries and communities with special attention

on how they continue to be shaped by current (e.g. poverty, gender, geography, disasters,

disabilities, etc.) and emerging (e.g. climate change, global economic crisis, etc.) issues and

threats.

c. Enlisting the services of highly qualified professionals who are sensitive to issues of long-term

capacity development in Pacific island countries.

The above three strategies will continue to guide our work for the next few years. We’ll work closely

with Pacific island governments to make data more accessible and useable at national and sub-national

levels and to address equity issues through effective documentation, advocacy and capacity

development. We’ll strive to organize our support to address inequities by assisting governments

to analyse, prioritize and cost their inputs. We’ll also contribute to ensuring that governments can

measure their performance and results. Finally, we’ll invest to continually build in-country capacities

starting from the current assets and looking long-term.

I am confident that, together, we can build a Pacific sub-region that is ever fit for children.

Dr. Isiye Ndombi

UNICEF Pacific Representative

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A total population of some two million people including just over 900,000 children below the age of 18 live in the Pacific. The UNICEF Pacific Multi-Country Programme (MCP) 2008-2012 provides sup-port to 14 Pacific island countries which are organised in three priority tiers: tier one (top priority), Kiribati, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands; tier two (second level) Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji Islands, Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), Samoa and Tuvalu; and tier three , Cook Islands, Niue, Nauru, Palau, Tokelau and Tonga. The overall goal of the UNICEF Pacific multi-country programme 2008-2012 is to support the governments of these countries in progressively realising child rights in accordance with national Development Strategies, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the World Fit for Children (WFFC) goals.

Looking back on the second year of the Multi-Country Programme Cycle 2008-2012With the impact of the Global Economic Crisis (GEC) still being felt in the Pacific, 2010 proved to be a challenging year for most Pacific islanders. Children, women and other vulnerable groups continued to be hard hit as families struggled daily to meet increased food and fuel prices. Against this backdrop, UNICEF worked closely with governments, partners and key stakeholders and made significant progress in 2010 through strategic national and regional policy dialogue to promote the fulfilment of children’s rights in the Pacific. In 2010, UNICEF also stepped up its engagement in national sectoral coordination mechanisms which allowed leveraging of significant resources and positive influence on policy decisions. While no significant shortfalls were reported during the year, UNICEF’s Mid Term Review (MTR) highlighted an urgent need to further strengthen the evidence base for action and advocacy including the strengthening of routine data collection and use in health and education in all countries.

Integrity of Data. In a major initiative to ensure that the 2008-2012 MCP was results based, UNICEF Pacific took deliberate steps to ensure that each programme had a handle on baseline data in priority Pacific island countries to determine the ‘starting’ points so that progress could be tracked with time. UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) jointly implemented diagnostic studies on children and women focused planning, monitoring and evaluation systems of Kiribati, Solomon

Overview

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Islands and Vanuatu which are being used to improve the mapping, generation and use of data in planning. Through the Sentinel Site Monitoring (SSM), quality data on the most vulnerable groups of population in six countries is being generated and analyzed jointly with government counterparts and consolidated to formulate country specific policy advocacy materials. The Vanuatu Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) provided an opportunity for UNICEF to demonstrate rapid turnaround in data capture, analysis and reporting. Most significant was the communication and advocacy generated on the data.

Education Sector Partnerships. In 2010, UNICEF entered a Joint Partnership Arrangement with the Government of Vanuatu and nine Development Partners (DP) to support the Vanuatu Education Road Map (VERM). UNICEF contributes to the VERM Partnership Arrangement as a pooled partner, thereby providing predictable and longer term funding. As one of three pooled partners (alongside the Australian and New Zealand Governments), UNICEF has been able to use this position to effectively advocate for increased budget allocations to areas of concern such as Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Minimum Quality Service Standards for Schools (MQSS). UNICEF has been able to dedicate all of its support towards strategic technical assistance to basic education sector policy and practice and leverage results within the entire Joint Education Sector Programme (JESP).

Advocacy to protect the vulnerable. In collaboration with Government of Vanuatu, other UN agencies, USP, ADB and PIFS, UNICEF was the prime mover in the GEC with a Human Face Conference that was held in Vanuatu in February 2010 and the national and regional food summits. The outcome documents from these ‘pinnacle’ events opened doors for UNICEF to engage with leaders and decision makers at subsequent national and regional fora. UNICEF also spearheaded the UN Joint initiative on monitoring the impact and changing vulnerabilities among the most vulnerable and most at risk populations in vulnerable countries. To enhance the evidence base for action and advocacy, UNICEF provided support to six countries to establish National Steering Committees (NSC) to strengthen data coordination mechanisms at country levels.

Key partnerships for UNICEF Pacific in 2010. Supported by strong Memorandums of Understanding, (MoU), UNICEF strengthened relationships with regional agencies especially Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and Asian Development Bank (ADB).UNICEF also strengthened its already strong partnership with the European Union (EU) and in 2011 will take up two new funding arrangements with them.

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• Health and Sanitation• Education• HIV and AIDS• Child Protection• Policy, Advocacy, Planning and Evaluation• Emergency Preparedness and Response• Operations

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Looking back at progress made against key programme management results in 2010 & moving forward with priority actions planned for 2011.

This section presents an overall critical and analytical assessment of progress against key management results in 2010 and also provides an update on planned results for 2011 across the following programmes:

Health and SanitationA Review of 2010 & Snapshot of 2011


The Health and Sanitation Programme’s work contributes directly to health related MDGs (1, 4, 5, 6 and 7) and also provides support to strengthening equitable social and protection services. Working in collaboration with its main implementing partners – Pacific Island Country (PIC) Governments, communities/project beneficiaries and Community Based Organisations (CBO), World Vision International (WVI), Live and Learn Environmental Education (LLEE), Partners in Community Development Fiji and Habitat for Humanity Fiji - the Health and Sanitation Programme works to ensure: (1) That children, especially those from vulnerable islands and communities in Pacific Island Countries and Territorities (PICTS), survive, grow and develop to their full potential; (2) By 2012 more mothers and children have increased and equitable access to evidenced-based packages of essential services and interventions in Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu; and (3) By 2012 more schools and communities have improved health, economic and human development outcomes related to water, sanitation, hygiene and climate change in selected PICTS.

Looking BackWhile the impact of the GEC was still being felt in the Pacific in 2010, most PICTS worked hard to maintain gains made in the achievement of health related MDGs. Through UNICEF’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) and its support in the procurement of vaccines, training, and advocacy, PICTS continued to maintain high immunization coverage. All PICTS maintained a polio-free status in 2010, near elimination of measles and were on track for the Hepatitis B control.

UNICEF with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) also supported the sixth annual Pacific Immunization Programme Strengthening (PIPS) workshop where technical updates for PICTS were provided and the performance of each country reviewed.

In efforts to control diarrhoea and pneumonia, UNICEF helped update and adapt Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) modules to include new born care, procured Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and zinc tablets and helped develop guidelines for the use of zinc tablets in diarrhoea treatment. All except one PICT introduced pentavalent vaccine into their EPI to reduce the incidence of pneumonia and meningitis among children under 5.

Nutrition and Food Security received the highest profile during the Food Summit held in Vanuatu in April where UNICEF also used the opportunity to strategically position infant and young child feeding and advocate on nutrition and food security.

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All of Fiji’s 21 hospitals were declared baby friendly under UNICEF’s Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI). This makes Fiji the first and only country in the Asia Pacific region to achieve this status. The BFHI initiative is aimed at improving knowledge and skills of health workers in basic emergency obstetric and newborn care, including provision of basic emergency equipment and supplies. Three hospitals in Solomon Islands and one each in Kiribati and Vanuatu were also declared baby friendly in 2010.

UNICEF demonstrated effective community based-responses in addressing water, sanitation and hygiene issues in 2010. With UNICEF support, 450 families in Kiribati installed latrines; over 850 school children in five schools on Kiribati’s Abemama Island enjoy separate latrines for boys and girls, hand washing facilities and drinking water points; while five schools on Vanuatu’s Tanna island provide 450 school children with direct access to clean drinking water through the installation of rainwater harvesting systems. UNICEF contributed to advocacy at national level by supporting government agencies and NGOs in Fiji and Solomon Islands promote hand washing with soap and water on Global Hand Washing Day. UNICEF secured Euro 3.28 million for the Kiribati Outer Islands Water and Sanitation Project (2011 – 2014) from the European Union and Euro 1.92 million for Solomon Islands from the EU WASH facility.

Moving ForwardThe following priorities are planned for 2011 and beyond:

a) Continue the focus on: immunization policy and practices; Vaccine Independence Initiative (VII) and immunization equipment; and introduction of new vaccines.

b) Explore use of technologies and multi-country, multi-donor and multi-year plans to improve delivery of immunization.

c) Roll out BFHI to all hospitals in the three priority countries and other selected PICTS.

d) Strengthen Maternal Child Health and Nutrition (MCHN) care by focusing on opportunities at antenatal, delivery and postnatal/newborn periods and fostering integration with Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT).

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e) Support accelerated progress of health-related MDGs with equity, including Pacific Health Countdown to 2015; costing of health sector programme plans; demonstration of budgetary allocative efficiency and value for money; and development of investment cases and advocating for additional resources for high impact interventions.

f) Support implementation of the Framework for Action on Food Security in the Pacific, including advocating for food fortification, promotion of IYCF, strengthened pre-service curricula, and increased UNICEF visibility in nutrition in the region.

g) Support expanded Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in primary schools and surrounding communities and respond to declared humanitarian emergencies in accordance with health, nutrition and WASH Core Commitments for Children (CCC).

Child Protection

A Review of 2010 & Snapshot of 2011

© UNICEF Pacific / Giacomo Pirozzi / 2006

The Child Protection Programme strives to build a protective environment for children free from violence, abuse and exploitation and aims to achieve this by:

1. Ensuring that children are increasingly protected by legislation and are better served by justice systems that protect them as victims, offenders and witnesses;2. Ensuring that children are better served by well-informed and coordinated child protection social services that ensure greater protection against and response to violence, abuse and exploitation; and 3. Supporting families and communities in establishing home and community environments for children that are free from violence, abuse and exploitation.

The programme works in partnership with Ministries of Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs, Ministries of Social Welfare and Justice, Civil Registry Departments, Judiciaries, Police and NGOs/INGOs (such as ILO, UNFPA, Save the Children Fiji and Save the Children Australia).

Looking Back

The Child Protection programme made major progress in 2010 using a three-pronged approach to advance legal and justice sector reforms, strengthen social welfare and child protection systems and challenge practices, norms and behaviours that violate children’s protection rights following the successful completion in 2008 of baseline research in Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

For instance, while the Solomon Islands Cabinet endorsed the drafting process for a new Child Protection Bill, finalised new child friendly court procedures and introduced portable screens to ensure privacy for children appearing in court, Kiribati undertook island level consultations and increased engagement with parliamentarians to improve understanding of child rights that would pave the way for the drafting of a Child Protection Bill. In Vanuatu, a network of service providers in health, education, welfare and civil society are working together to improve restorative justice for juvenile offenders.

UNICEF continued to provide support to strengthen social welfare and child protection systems in Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The Fiji Government showed strong commitment by developing a number of new policies and decrees including the ‘Child Welfare Decree’ of the Ministry

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of Health (MoH) which stipulates heavy fines for professionals who fail to report child abuse. It also highlighted a national Child Protection Policy that outlined responsibilities of different stakeholders and a specific Child Protection Policy in the Education system to support child protection in thecountry. Vanuatu mapped existing and potential resources, structures and traditional mechanisms that would contribute to making new child protection systems cost-effective, sustainable and readily acceptable; while Solomon Islands strengthened its Division of Social Welfare through upskilling staff and clarifying roles and procedures of social workers. In Kiribati, closer coordination was achieved between the Ministry of Internal and Social Affairs (MISA), the police and the courts to internalize principles of dealing with young offenders. UNICEF continued to support birth registration in Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Close to 40,000 children under age 18 were registered in Vanuatu partly on account of a very successful campaign but also owing to an innovative mobile phone-based iCount registration platform.

Based on research findings in relation to community behaviour and social change, UNCEF facilitated in-country processes for the development of ‘Communication for Social Change Plans’ in Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. As a way of monitoring changes resulting from these activities, a process of collecting human interest stories was established to highlight the Most Significant Change based on UNICEF interventions.

Moving Forward The programme will maintain its three-pronged approach strengthening the legal and regulatory system; the social welfare system and addressing community/individual behaviour for social change. The findings and recommendations by the Baseline Research will continue to provide a road map for action and a benchmark against which progress will be measured.

a) In strengthening the social welfare system, there will be enhanced focus on tapping into existing resources, structures and mechanisms at local level with the aim of ensuring systems are increasingly accessible by all (including marginalized and the hard to reach areas), afford able and sustainable. Institutional partnership with an international child protection organization has been formed to provide strong technical support in taking this forth in 2011.

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b) In 2011, it is expected that community-based activities for social behavioural change, addressing violence, abuse and exploitation of children under the “Communication for Social Change Plans” will be further accelerated. This component will involve more extensive col laboration with civil society organizations.

c) Enhanced focus on monitoring results, tracking progress of implementing baseline and other study recommendations is expected.

d) Under the legislative reform initiative, several new child protection-related laws will be drafted and amendments to existing laws will be made.

e) With the conclusion of the child protection research in Samoa and in the Northern Pacific, the Programme will undertake joint planning with partners for the remaining period of the programme cycle.

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© UNICEF Pacific / JHing / 2010

HIV and AIDS


With a special focus on children, women and their partners, the HIV and AIDS programme aims to reduce the vulnerability to and impact of HIV and AIDS among the most at risk population in sixpriority countries – Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The programme has raised its scope of implementation by strengthening high level of engagement and strengthened collaboration with a wide range of other partners. The programme supports Governments in PICTs to address the knowledge, skills and sexual practices of the vulnerable and most at risk, particularly adolescents and young people while supporting strengthening of health systems, so that they can access quality services for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for AIDS.

The programme works with regional MoH in Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, UN agencies and programmes (UNFPA and UNAIDS) and several regional partners such as the SPC and IPPF. The programme also works with organisations like Kiribati Family Health Association, Solomon Islands Planned Parenthood Association (SIPPA), Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC), Wan Smol Bag, World Vision (Vanuatu), Fiji Network of Positive People (FJN+), Fiji Association of Workers, Pacific Islands Counseling Association (Fiji); and Tuvalu Red Cross Association and Tuvalu Family Health Association.

Looking BackIn 2010, the HIV and AIDS programme continued to work closely with Governments to ensure strategic information on HIV knowledge, attitudes and practices of young people was available to improve policies, advocacy strategies and interventions to reduce the risk and vulnerability of HIV among target groups.

UNICEF in collaboration with the Governments of Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Kiribati finalised baseline reports on ‘Understanding HIV and AIDS risks and vulnerability among Youth’. These reports which will be launched early in 2011 will help contribute to the development of targeted interventions for most at risk and vulnerable young people.

Through further collaboration with SPC and UNFPA, a review of existing health facilities that provide services for youth was undertaken in 2010 in 10 countries. The results of this review will guide the development of a regional guideline for Youth Friendly Services. UNICEF, through its joint programme with SPC and UNFPA supported the development of national guidelines on provision of adolescents and youth friendly services in Vanuatu, Kiribati and Solomon Islands.

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UNICEF supported the Pacific sub-regional consultative meeting on scaling up Prevention of Parent To Child Transmission (PPTCT) services which was attended by representatives from Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu. These countries were supported to develop country plans as well as country specific policies and guidelines which support a scale up and quality delivery of PPTCT services at country level. Following the Pacific Consultative Meeting convened by UNICEF, Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu prepared action plans to scale up PPTCT services through the integration of PPTCT into existing health services. UNICEF also provided support for the establishment of three PPTCT centres in the Solomon Islands and Kiribati.

The programme also contributed to capacity development of PICs in Monitoring. This was done through contributions to the development of national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks for HIV response, and contribution to the development of training curriculum for M&E workers from these countries.

As a member of several technical working groups at the regional and country levels, UNICEF supported the development of various regional and country specific policies and guidelines to support a scale up and quality delivery of counselling and testing services at country level.

To promote behaviour change, UNICEF provided technical support to Solomon Islands and Kiribati and with the active participation of stakeholders in these countries, produced key messages on HIV prevention for target groups. The programme also supported countries to establish national systems for reaching the most at risk, especially young people, with peer education training programmes. In particular, developing national manuals that will be used by stakeholders for peer education programmes and establishing technical committees to coordinate these programmes.

UNICEF also provided technical support to HIV units in Kiribati, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Fiji as the countries finalised their country plans for accessing funds from response fund. UNICEF promoted the inclusion of activities which can strengthen national systems, and scale up VCT, PPTCT and adolescent friendly health services.

Moving ForwardThe Program will continue to support Governments to develop systems for monitoring the HIV epidemic and national HIV responses through the following priorities in 2011:

1) Strengthen national systems for collection of quality data; including monitoring of the national response to HIV and AIDS, as well as contribute to planned surveillance work in Fiji, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu

2) Increased focus on scale up of HIV testing for most at risk and vulnerable groups. UNICEF will support Governments to improve HIV testing and counselling protocols, support establishing or integration of testing services in already existing health services and provide supplies for quality PPTCT. These will be integrated in broader reproductive health services.

3) Increased focus in five priority countries on the prevention on HIV among most at risk adolescent, youth, women and their partners to ensure a reduction in health risk behaviours

4) Implementation of communication activities leading to more use of HIV prevention services, and other behaviour changes in relation to HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).

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EducationA Review of 2010 & Snapshot of 2011

The Education Programme has committed to delivering on the following four results through its engagement in the Pacific: 1) improved access to quality Early Childhood Education (ECE), particularly for the most disadvantaged children; 2)implementation of minimum national quality school standards as a means of improving primary enrolment and retention; 3) increased literacy, numeracy and life skills learning outcome of primary students’ and 4) education systems, students and staff are better equipped for disasters and are adequately supported through Education in Emergency (EiE) interventions.

Looking Back

The modality for UNICEF Pacific’s Education Programme over 2010 continued towards that of harmonized Joint Education Sector Programmes, with UNICEF serving as the Chair for an Education Sector Wide Approach to Programming (SWaP) in Vanuatu and contributing as a key member to the Kiribati Education Improvement Programme and the Solomon Islands Education Partners Group. UNICEF Pacific’s entry as a pooled partner into joint sector budget support to VERM, allowed for more substantive engagement on key research and policy discussions – particularly in the areas of Language and Literacy, Teacher Development and ECE. In Kiribati, a ‘Partnership Principles Document’ for the Joint Education Sector Programme was signed by UNICEF, UNESCO, AusAID and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. At a regional level, a partnership with the organisation of teachers’ associations – the Council of Pacific Educators (COPE) – was signed in 2010 and begins a strengthened investment by the Education Programme in strategically addressing teacher ethics and child protection issues in basic education.

With UNICEF technical assistance, MQSS for schools in Vanuatu were drafted as a first step to developing a more equity driven funding formula of the national School Grants programme. Similarly, national Whole School Development Standards were drafted with UNICEF’s support in the Solomon Islands, and will promote greater accountability by schools in the delivery of accessible and effective learning environments. A baseline against access and quality indicators of primary schools was undertaken in Vanuatu and Kiribati, as a means of informing the Education Programme targets and to assist in determining future impact. Further, a “Barriers to Education in the Solomon Islands” study has identified the key reasons for which children are being pushed out of the basic education system and provided recommendations for consideration by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development.

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A considerable achievement in 2010 was the successful completion of the UNICEF-led Recovery and Rehabilitation Project (RARP), benefitting 77 primary schools in Western and Choiseul Provinces of the Solomon Islands. Under the oversight of the Ministry of Education and Human Resource (MEHRD), and managed in partnership with the New Zealand Aid Programme and the European Union, 215 classrooms (benefitting 7,600 school children) and 145 teachers’ houses have been renovated and/or rebuilt through this three-year project. The considerable challenges of managing a large scale, community based reconstruction programme in remote settings make these achievements all the more notable. Through this project, the MEHRD has reviewed and improved upon their national education infrastructure standards and has sought to adhere to disaster risk reduction principles through construction and community engagement processes.

Over 2010, national EiE Plans were finalised in Vanuatu and Fiji and sub national capacity development was facilitated through UNICEF for Ministry of Education officials in two Divisions of Fiji. As a result of these initiatives, EiE preparedness has been explicitly included in the Vanuatu and Solomon Islands Ministry of Education (MoE) work plans for 2011 with dedicated budget allocations provided for.

Following a two year drafting and validation process, Early Learning Development Standards for children aged 3 to 5 were completed in Vanuatu and provide a basis upon which the Ministry of Education’s ECE curriculum will be developed over 2011. UNICEF’s support to this has been both in the provision of technical assistance as well as supporting costs associated with the extensive piloting of the standards nationally.

A Language in Education Policy was approved by the National Education Authority of the Solomon Islands in 2010, its development supported by UNICEF and the Pacific Regional Initiative for the Delivery of Education (PRUIDE) since 2009. This policy provides a sound framework which firmly supports the use of children’s mother tongue in the primary classroom for instruction and learning.

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Moving Forward

a) At their 2010 Ministers of Education Forum Meeting, Ministers agreed to support the creation of a Regional ECE Council, which UNICEF has committed to establishing in partnership with Fiji National University and the University of the South Pacific. Under the auspices of the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, the ECE Council will be formed of MoE, University and NGO representatives and will provide a forum for the sharing of evidence based ECE research and practice.

b) Rehabilitation and betterment of learning environments in 95 primary schools (Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Fiji) to national education infrastructure standards. A review of School Grant Programmes in Vanuatu based on costed MQSS for schools, thereby ensuring more equitable access to quality primary education for vulnerable and disadvantaged school children in both countries.

c) Designing of UNICEF’s support for ‘Early Grade Literacy Programme’ in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Kiribati, drawing on research and international best practices.

d) Strengthening of Education in Emergency cluster arrangements at a regional level and building the capacity of Ministries of Education and regional Teacher Training Institutions on Disaster Risk Reduction and Education in Emergency Preparedness Planning (in partnership with Save the Children)

e) Introduce and apply an Education for All Information System (EFA-Info) tool within the Joint Education Sector Programme of at least one PIC, as a means of highlighting equity within the EFA Reporting.

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Policy, Advocacy, Planning

and Evaluation (PAPE)



The Policy, Advocacy, Planning and Evaluation programme strengthens evidence-based decision making for children in the Pacific. In line with UNICEF’s global move towards “upstream” policy work the programme has invested in cutting-edge research on child poverty and vulnerability in the region. The programme also works to strengthen results focus, providing support to governments to plan, monitor and evaluate the fulfilment of child rights and to gage the impact of national strategies and donor giving for children and women. Through strategic communication, PAPE advocates for and promotes the rights of children, young people and women and their active and meaningful participation.

Looking BackThe Pacific high level Conference on ‘The Human Face of the Global Economic Crisis’ spearheaded by UNICEF in collaboration with other UN agencies, USP, PIFs and ADB, and hosted by the Government of Vanuatu in February 2010, specifically called for the protection of social sector budgets andemphasised that attention be given to and investments made for the most vulnerable groups of population. UNICEF responded to the need for real time data to monitor the impact of the crisis by working with Governments in six countries to institute Sentinel Monitoring where two rounds of data were completed during 2010. Vanuatu finalised a ‘Child Poverty and Disparity Study’ that explored multi-dimensional aspects of poverty, disparities and barriers. UNICEF and SPC, through a MoU, are currently preparing the State of the Pacific Youth Report and a Review of the Pacific Youth Strategy.

PAPE worked with the Governments of Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Kiribati to help formulate provincial level Development Plans for Children. Based on key findings of a joint UNFPA-UNICEF PME diagnostic study conducted in 2008, Solomon Islands and Kiribati agreed to develop action plans to improve their PME system with a more disaggregated data on children and women. Three countries pilot-tested a National Committee for Children (NCC) toolkit aimed at strengthening NCC capacity to monitor and report on the status of children. Through PAPE’s assistance to governments, Cook Islands and Niue completed and submitted their Initial Reports on the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) to Geneva. The Tuvalu NACC also endorsed their Initial report during 2010 moving it one step closer to the submission of the report. The report will be submitted to Geneva once it is endorsed by the Tuvalu cabinet. With the completion of these two reports, only three countries globally remain – all of them in the Pacific (Tuvalu, Tonga and Nauru) to submit the Initial State Party Report.

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PAPE commissioned two scoping studies, ‘Climate Change and Children in the Pacific Islands’ and Urbanization and Children in the Pacific Islands’. Both studies were undertaken to provide a picture of how climate change and urbanization affect children in the Pacific. PAPE also commissioned ‘An Independent Review of the Status of Gender Mainstreaming within UNICEF Pacific’. Recommendations of the above reports were reflected in the formulation of UNICEF Pacific’s Multi-Year Work Plans (2011 – 2012) during the Mid-Term Review. PAPE provided technical assistance to the joint monitoring of all programmes with counterparts in Kiribati and Vanuatu and post-disaster monitoring and evaluation which include: Fiji’s Cyclone Mick and Cyclone Tomas, and Samoa and the Tonga’ Tsunami Evaluations.

During 2010, PAPE provided technical assistance on Communication for Development (C4D) to other Programmes within UNICEF on Pandemic Influenza, Health and Sanitation, HIV/AIDS, Education, Child Protection and Emergencies. PAPE also facilitated two production workshops for young people where 25 Fijian youth produced one-minute videos focusing on the CRC during the One Minute Juniors training workshop, while 60 representatives from Pacific media organisations and youths including the disabled jointly produced media productions on issues such as sanitation, disability and safe sex during the Media for Children training workshop. Following up on the Vanuatu Multiple Indication Cluster Survey, PAPE supported the Vanuatu Government to develop a child and youth friendly version known as ‘Life in Vanuatu: Vanuatu Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2007: Young People Edition. A Knowledge for Children survey was conducted in 2010 to strengthen the delivery of information and knowledge for children.

MOVING FORWARDChild-Centred Policy, Budgeting and Legislative Reform

In Vanuatu the ‘Child Poverty and Disparity Study Report’ will be used to strengthen the profile of children at the national policy table while the ‘Child Poverty and Disparity Study’ will commence in Kiribati and the Solomon Islands during 2011 and 2012. Sentinel Monitoring will continue in the same six Pacific Island Countries with further focus on institutionalization. The dissemination and policy advocacy targeting policy makers and parliamentarians will be supported at national and regional

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level, and dialogue with PIC governments and development partners on social protection will be promoted further during 2011. Voices of the Vulnerable will also be further uplifted through closer collaboration with media in the region. PAPE will roll out its support to other NACCs across the region to strengthen legislative and policy reform for children.

Child-Centred PME Skills, Data Systems and Reporting

PAPE will continue to support the implementation and monitoring of Provincial Development Plans for Children with a focus on equity, gender and disability in the three focus countries and will support capacity development for country-led evaluations. UNICEF will also continue to provide support to improving the monitoring and evaluation of the Kiribati Development Plan, the Vanuatu Prior-ity Agenda for Action and the Solomon Islands’ Medium Term Development Strategy through the UNDAF M&E group. A hybrid MICS/DHS in Vanuatu will be examined together with other surveys undertaken to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of data collection with national and regional partners (SPC/UNFPA). PAPE will help the Governments of Tonga, Tuvalu and Nauru prepare their initial CRC reports to be submitted to Geneva and will also continue to contribute to the regional Cairns Compact and national MDG reporting.

Strategic Communication

In 2011, a key focus will be on the development of Children’s Atlases which will be developed with eight PICs provide a clear snapshot of the situation of children, youth and women in the Pacific. As a follow up to the Human Face of the GEC conference held in Vanuatu in 2010, the objective of this project is to highlight disparities within and across countries in these groups of population in order to influence decision makers in resource allocation and policy priorities across the eight PICs. As a cross-programme contribution, PAPE will continue to provide technical assistance to C4D on gender equality, pandemic influenza, HIV/AIDS, education, child protection, emergencies and health and sanitation. Technical assistance will also be offered to government counterparts on the implementation and monitoring of strategic integrated communication and ICT.

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Gender Equity and Equality



In 2010, the Gender Task Force continued its collaboration with other UN agencies to develop a joint strategic communication plan focusing on eliminating violence against women and girls in the Pacific.

The UNICEF Gender Task Force supervised an independent audit of the organisation’s work to promote gender equality and equity. This led to the identification of a Gender Action Plan with a set of priority actions that have been incorporated into the 2011-2012 Multi-Year Work Plans.

Looking backIn 2010, the GTF supervised an independent audit of the organisation’s work to promote gender equality and equity. Following the audit and with support from UN Women, UNDP and ESCAP, UNICEF provided a two-day training for its staff to give them an understanding on how to apply gender mainstreaming skills. A result of this is the development of a Gender Action Plan highlighting priority actions that have been incorporated into the 2011-2012 Multi-Year Work Plans. Ensuring that staff can avail themselves of additional training opportunities to strengthen their skills in this area, gender equality has been endorsed as an office wide training priority for 2011. UNICEF also worked closely with OCHA, OHCHR and UNFPA to build a clear partner focus on prevention of violence against women and girls in the Pacific.

Moving forwardThe GTF will continue its collaboration with other UN agencies through the UN Gender Group to develop a joint strategic communication plan focusing on the elimination of violence against women and girls in the Pacific in 2011. This will provide the foundation for the Pacific UNiTE campaign and feed into continues joint UN programming on violence again women and girls. UNICEF’s established strength in communication will be further employed for the promotion of gender equality.

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Emergency Preparedness

and Response


UNICEF Pacific works with governments and humanitarian partners during both preparedness and response phases of disasters to ensure that rapid and effective relief is provided to affected populations, particularly women and children. Specific areas of focus are: water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); child mortality and maternal health; nutrition; child protection; education; and HIV/AIDS.

Looking BackThe early part of 2010 kept UNICEF Pacific busy responding to a number of small to medium scale disasters. These included:

• The January Rendova Earthquakes and Tsunami in the Solomon Islands in which UNICEF responded in the areas of WASH, Health and Education• Category 4 Tropical Cyclone Pat in February, which affected Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. UNICEF supported the Government to respond in the areas of Education and Child Protection• Tropical Cyclone Tomas, also a category 4 cyclone, which in March affected approximately 30,000 people in the Northern and Easter Divisions of Fiji. UNICEF responded in the areas of WASH, Health and Education• The ongoing displacement of the people of Gaua in Vanuatu due to the island’s highly active volcano. UNICEF supported the contingency planning process for evacuation of the affected population and provided funding and staff for joint assessments

During both the Rendova Earthquakes and Tropical Cyclone Tomas, in addition to managing our own response activities, UNICEF also coordinated broader “Cluster” activities as per the responsibilities delegated to Cluster Lead Agencies through the Humanitarian Reform process. The cluster approach ensures predictability and accountability in international responses to humanitarian emergencies, by clarifying the division of labour among organizations, and better defining roles and responsibilities within the different sectors of the response. In the Pacific, UNICEF is the lead agency of the WASH Cluster, a co-lead agency of the Education and Health and Nutrition Clusters, and the lead agency of the child protection sub-cluster.

In addition to responding to these disasters, UNICEF was able to engage in a number of activities during 2010 which strengthened our ability to support disaster affected communities, particularly

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women and children, in future responses. We continued to improve our prepositioned stock levels and warehousing and distribution capabilities. This was achieved by bringing in additional supplies, researching ways to make our stock more appropriate to the Pacific context, conducting logistics capacity assessments, and strengthening our stock management systems.

Considerable investment was also made in building the skills of UNICEF Pacific staff to respond to emergencies. All UNICEF staff participated in a brief training exercise on emergency response. Further a number of Pacific Emergency Response Team (PERT) members, a select team of UNICEF staff who are the first called upon to lead a disaster response in the Pacific, took part in targeted training exercises to help them build skills in their field of specialization.

The plans and coordination mechanisms that guide our response efforts were also strengthened. Through UNICEF’s Emergency Preparedness Plan, detailed risk assessments were conducted and disaster scenarios built for five priority countries within the Pacific. Lessons learned from past responses were documented, key staffing capacities mapped, and forecasts made of the type of response which UNICEF is likely to be required to implement, allowing us to budget for minimum levels of preparedness. Based on these forecasts technical specialists developed preparedness activities to help them overcome any gaps which may have been identified during the lessons learned and scenario building activities.

UNICEF Pacific also contributed to a range of interagency contingency planning initiatives, including as a member of the steering committee in preparation for the Pacific Humanitarian Team meeting, to strengthen preparedness at the overall humanitarian system level. At the Cluster level, we worked in our roles as Cluster Lead with cluster partners to strengthen preparedness.

Moving ForwardIn 2011 key priorities will be to continue to fund and manage our three warehouses and pre-positioned supplies in an effective manner. This includes our physical supplies, such as water containers and water purification tablets, and also less tangible response tools such as pre-recorded health promotion radio advertisements. UNICEF will continue to build and refine our pre-positioned supply stocks and warehouse capacity, pre-writing, designing, and ensuring national counterpart approval

for behaviour change communication materials, organising sharing of pre-positioned stock lists with partner agencies, mapping distribution networks in priority countries and identifying likely distribution partners, familiarising PERT members with what stock is where, what it can do, and how to use it. The testing of stock quality control on an annual basis will continue, ensuring that stock is ready for mobilisation and supply user instructions are clear and appropriately translated.

We will also look beyond supplies and seek to strengthen the systems which ensure their effective use. A key priority will be to strengthen information management at the agency, cluster and humanitarian system levels. Actions required in the short to medium term include supporting regional initiatives to improve baseline data quality and accessibility- particularly as with regards to children and women, improving UNICEF Pacific’s assessment formats and processes and supporting country and regional initiatives to harmonise formats and processes, and developing tools and templates to allow rapid roll-out of monitoring and evaluation activities during and after the emergency response phase.

Further, in recognition of the significant human resource demands which are placed upon UNICEF to appropriately prepare for and respond to disasters, a permanent Emergencies Specialist will be recruited to provide overall guidance to UNICEF’s emergencies work. A dedicated WASH Cluster Coordinator will also be recruited to manage the WASH Cluster and UNICEF’s WASH contribution to disasters throughout the Pacific Region. We will continue to invest in Pacific Emergency Response Team members through targeted trainings and mentoring opportunities wherever possible.

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Supplies

Human Resources

Finance

Administration

Information Communication Technology

Operations


The Operations section provides support in the following areas to all programmes and activities of UNICEF Pacific: human resources, administration, logistics, supplies and information communication technology.

Staffing

Seventy of the 71 established posts in UNICEF Pacific were filled by the end of 2010. The office is expected to expand in 2011 following the approval in October 2010 of 25 additional posts. The increased human resource capacity will ensure that UNICEF effectively supports the acceleration of progress towards targeted results for children, including the MDGs.

In 2010, the Human Resource Development Team (HRDT) organised office wide learning in the following key areas: emergency preparedness, multi-year rolling plans and gender mainstreaming. The operations staff received training in finance, human resources, ICT and supply and administration. Staff also completed orientations on the anti-fraud policy, conflict of interest/financial disclosure, disciplinary measures and procedures, standards of conduct of the international civil service and the United Nations Charter.

Supplies

In 2010 supply managment was improved through: end use monitoring, timely preparation of supply plan and a monthly comparison of supply plan against actual procurement. Information, including the top ten supply items, was shared with management on a regular basis. The office conducted two stock-takes in June and December of supplies in all warehouses including field offices to identify and dispose of expired and obsolete stocks. Operations included a new initiative in the work process for sections to identify items due to expire within a year and a half to avoid stock piling expired drugs and vaccines. With the stockpiles in Suva and each of the field offices, UNICEF was able to respond quickly to emergencies in Fiji and the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Information Communication Technology (ICT)

The ICT team in 2010 continued to improve internet connectivity between the multi-country offices in Suva, Fiji and the Field Offices. A change of VSAT service providers resulted in more reliable connectivity across the offices. The office now has video conferences for meetings with staff and partners in the field. A replacement plan implemented in 2010 upgraded all hardware (workstations, laptops and servers) to be compatible with the pending upgrade to Windows 7, MS Office 2010 and Windows 2008 Server

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Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity

The Emergency Preparedness Plan was reviewed further in 2010 to target specific needs of the Pacific Island Countries. Lessons learned from previous floods and tsunamis were incorporated in the new strategic plans. The office carried out three training session for all staff on the revised Emergency Preparedness Plans and the effectiveness of the plans were also tested through simulations.

UNICEF Pacific is fully equipped with and is utilizing the Business Continuity Site. In March 2010, the office tested the Business Continuity Plan in a process that involved all field offices, UNDSS, the Regional Office and OPSCEN. The lessons learned in this process were shared with the Regional Office. Most of the lapses have been addressed while a few items that need procurement such as VSAT connectivity will be budgeted for in 2011.

Moving forward

The following priority actions are planned for Operations in 2011:

a) Staff Recruitment – Initiate a recruitment process to fill 25 new positions by June 2011. These positions were endorsed by the Programme Budget Review in 2010.b) Office Inventory – Improve the management of Office inventory including field offices c) Market Survey – conduct a market survey for Fiji that will include Australian companies and sign Long Term Agreements with recommended companiesd) Complete the Assurance Plan and achieve HACT compliance for Fijie) Field support – Provide Operations oversight visits to field offices and continue to provide professional assistance to the Joint UN presence activities and Operations Management Teamf) Training – Provide training to relevant staff in the following areas: Organisational changes and key policies/regulation for Operations staff; Monitoring of travel certification and travel claims for all staff; Staff Security and Safety for all staff to ensure familiarity with relevant policies and regulationsg) Information, Communication and Technology – Improve connectivity with field offices and ensure adequate bandwidth is operational before the end of the yearh) Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) – complete an action plan on ERM and implement recommendations in the Risk and Control Self Assessment

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31© UNICEF Pacific / Giacomo Pirozzi / 2006

Innovations and

Lessons Learnt

Vanuatu Education Road Map Partnership ArrangementBetween 2005 and 2008, the Net Enrolment Rate for Primary Education in Vanuatu fell from 95 to 82 per cent with similar negative trends in basic education completion rates. Inability to pay school fess was the key reason why an estimated 18 percent of children did not attend school, and why only 76 per cent reached grade 6. In 2009, the Government of Vanuatu requested all development partners to respect the Cairns Compact and the Paris Declaration through better ‘self regulation’ in their coordi-nation through its ‘Vanuatu Education Road Map’ (VERM) initiative. The strategic goals of the VERM are threefold: 1) to increase equitable access to education for all people at all levels of education in Vanuatu, 2) to improve the quality of education in Vanuatu and lastly, 3) to improve and strengthen the management of the education system in Vanuatu. The Government abolished primary school fees and established a programme of school grants.

In 2010, UNICEF entered a Joint Partnership Arrangement with the Government of Vanuatu and nine Development Partners (DPS) to support VERM. UNICEF contributes to the VERM Partnership Arrangement as a pooled partner, thereby providing predictable and longer term funding. As one of three pooled partners (alongside the Australian Government and New Zealand Government), UNICEF has been able to use this position to effectively advocate for increased budget allocations to areas of concern such as Early Childhood Education and Minimum Quality Service Standards for Schools. UNICEF has been able to dedicate all of its support towards strategic technical assistance to basic education sector policy and practice and leverage results within the entire Joint Education Sector Programme.

The pooled partner funding modality for UNICEF Pacific’s engagement to the Education Sector Wide Approach to Programming (SWaP) in Vanuatu is new for the Multi-Country Progamme. Whilst UNICEF has experience with SWaP mechanisms in both education and health sectors in the Pacific, this was the first time that UNICEF committed to pooling funds with other DPs in a SWaP. The pooled partnership arrangement has fundamentally changed the way in which UNICEF engages at a national level, with a far greater impact on policy and budgetary systems than was earlier possible.

The VERM is operationalized by the Government of Vanuatu as a three year rolling work plan, from which annual work plans are developed. Monthly meetings are held between the Government (Minis-tries of Education and Finance and Economic Management), Donor Pool Partners and the Education

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Partners Group for the purpose of monitoring progress of the Joint Education Sector Programme. Two joint reviews are held annually, one in June and another in November with the latter serving as the op-portunity for a final review of the MoE’s budget for the following year.

The Vanuatu Ministry of Education is the first Ministry to adopt this model of Joint Sector Partner-ship and Programming, and the Ministry of Health has expressed an interest in designing a similar approach for their Joint Programme. The pooled partner approach is one which can be applied across the various programme sectors which UNICEF supports.

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Real Life Stories

Breastfeeding is best for babiesBreastfeeding is nothing new to mother of teenage sons, Leticia Pakipota. Like many other mothers in the Taro area of Choiseul Province in the Solomon Islands, breastfeeding came naturally to her when she gave birth to her two sons years ago.

So when her third baby boy arrived recently, it was a pleasant surprise to see Leticia getting all excited about breastfeeding her new baby. The difference this time is that Leticia, through training, acquired new information and skills about proper and correct breastfeeding techniques that she knows will greatly benefit her new baby.

“I am very excited about breastfeeding my baby the correct way and preparing complementary feeds,” Leticia beams with excitement as she explains the importance of breast feeding.

As a representative of a Community Support Group (CSG) in Taro, Leticia had the opportunity to par-ticipate in a Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) training organised by UNICEF in 2009 for health workers before she became pregnant. Under UNICEF’s Safe motherhood and Nutrition Programs, the BFHI training focused on the 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and integrated 10 key messages for Complementary Feeding in the training. The practical demonstration and hands on experience built into the training was greatly appreciated. In Taro, twenty-six health workers and nine members of the CSG were trained. During this training, sessions on Maternal Health and Infant Feeding offered invaluable information about skills and proper breast feeding techniques to the participants.

Care of the new born, which includes breast feeding, and complementary feeding are part of an es-sential package for child survival. Other interventions in this package include skilled attendance during pregnancy, delivery, immediate postpartum, micronutrient supplementation and immunization of children and mothers.

Many mothers take breastfeeding for granted without realising that the correct positioning and attach-ment of babies to the breast not only creates a positive experience for mother and baby, but ensures a baby is fed properly.

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“No wonder my nipples were always sore, it’s because that’s the bit I gave my babies to suckle on. No wonder they cried a lot, it’s because I wasn’t giving them enough. Now I know how to position babies correctly at the breast and to attach them correctly too,” Leticia admits.

Keen to pass on her new found breastfeeding techniques and complementary feeding information to other mothers, Leticia wasted no time in organising a training session on maternal health and infant feeding for her church group members in Taro. With support from UNICEF’s Safe Motherhood Specialist, Shakila Naidu, and Nutrition Specialist, Seini Kurusiga, the training aroused the interest of other mothers who generated a lot of discussion around how they could improve their current breast feeding practices.

Looking back to her first breastfeeding experience with her older children, Leticia explains that she introduced mixed feeding with infant formula because she was concerned she didn’t have enough breast milk for her babies. When she eventually weaned her children, she noticed their weight took a downward turn and they looked sickly.

“I now know the reason. I was feeding them good food but with too much soup (watery stock). So they were not getting enough of the good food but were getting full on the soup,” says Leticia.The training enabled Leticia to understand the importance of ensuring children receive good nourishment between 6 – 24 months and confidently shares information with other mothers on the correct consistency of complementary feedings and the frequency of feeds to give babies during this time.

A report undertaken by nurses and medical officers at Taro after the BFHI training highlighted a decline in the number of pink cards (sick neonates) and an increase in the number of white cards (regular clinical checks) which reflects the good work the nurses and support groups are doing in educating and supporting mothers to care for their babies in the best possible way.

Leticia is determined to give her baby the best care possible. “I know that this baby will be very healthy and that we will be very good role models in our community because I will have a chance to practice what I teach.”

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Abemama islanders take steps to address micronutrient deficienciesThe Kiribati atolls in the South Pacific with their white sandy beaches and carefree lifestyles may offer an alluring appeal but this charming facade is also one of the country’s adversities.

White sandy soil, a prominent feature of this little Pacific Island Nation’s landscape, is unsuitable for vegetable growing. Only a limited selection of traditional foods such as a variety of giant taro, pumpkin, breadfruit, coconuts and bananas, have withstood the harsh gardening conditions over time.

With a diet high in starch content and lacking green leafy vegetables and fruits, Kiribati islanders face very high risks of deficiencies in vitamin A (VAD) and other important micronutrients essential for healthy growth. Micronutrient deficiencies are public health problems that represent a largely invis-ible but often crippling form of malnutrition affecting birth and maternal outcomes and children’s de-velopment and learning potential. Hardest hit by these deficiencies are children and pregnant women in low income countries. VAD is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children and increases the risk of disease and death from severe infections. In pregnant women, VAD causes night blindness and may increase the risk of maternal mortality.

As part of efforts to improve this situation, the Ministries of Health and Agriculture in Abemama Island, located in the central part of the Kiribati Group, introduced a vegetable gardening competition in 2009 to encourage communities to grow a variety of vegetable and fruits. With support from UNICEF Pacific the project kicked off with 121 households participating in the competition. The Minis-tries provided initial training in compost making and a variety of vegetable seeds.

Katarina Marietoa, a nurse aid employed by the Abemama Island Council in Kiribati was one of the winners in this initial competition. A year later in 2010 Katarina proudly shows off her mixed vegetable garden in her backyard. A variety of healthy vegetables and fruits never grown before in Kiribati – Chinese and English cabbage, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, baigans, rock melon, taro, pawpaw and pumpkins – now grow where once she was only able to grow taro, pumpkin, breadfruit and bananas. Katarina learned additional gardening tips in the use of organic manure from dried coconut trunks

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and dead leaves when she attended training provided by Seventh Day Adventist church members and then from the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) in 2010 and expanded her vegetable garden with seeds provided by TTM.

Although Katarina admits she is still finding ways to prepare the new food in ways that will entice her family to eat them, she keenly supplements her family’s daily diet with vegetables from her backyard garden and also sells surplus to others in the community.

“I am happy to see the greens. It helps me save when we have vegetable in our meals and my children have more to eat. What we don’t eat I sell to the high school,” she explains.

The vegetable gardening project is generating a lot of interest in Abemama and the Agriculture and Health Officers on the island are kept busy actively carrying out assessments for the competition. So keen is the interest that following a technical field monitoring in August 2010 by UNICEF and the Ministry of Health, the Medical Assistant and public health nurses of the island decided to develop demonstration gardens in the six health centres in Abemama. Even the Administrative Head of the island volunteered his official premises to feature a demonstration garden.

To date, 120 of the 449 households and three of the six government clinics on the islands have established vegetable gardens in their premises. And the vegetable garden competition will continue for another year to help maintain the interest.

This small step can make a huge difference in combating micronutrient deficiencies. Food basedinterventions like food fortification and growing and consuming healthy vegetables and fruits are sustainable ways of improving one’s intake of essential micronutrients. Cultivating the garden is the next phase necessary to achieve long term results.

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Examples of Studies, Surveys, Evaluationsand Knowledge Products completed in 2010

Climate Change and Children in the Pacific Islands (Study)An overview of climate change impact on children and programme responses across the region. The

report is based on interviews in Fiji, Tuvalu and Kiribati with government, donor and community

representatives. It also draws on literature reviews and three workshops with children and young

people in Tuvalu and Kiribati.

Children living away from their parents in the Pacific (Study)

This study attempts to understand the dynamics of movement of children away from their

parents and the consequences. The types of living arrangements explored in the study includes

children living in boarding facilities, with extended family members, friends and institutions. The

study found a number of positive consequences of children living away from their parents as well

as risks to their well-being and protection.

Pacific Children with Disabilities (Study)

This is an overview of the situation of children with disabilities in Pacific Island Countries (PICs).

It examines available data, the cultural context, and service provision for education and health as

well as interfacing issues such as gender and geographic factors .

Examples of Studies, Surveys and Evaluations Completed in 2010

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An Independent Review of the Status of Gender Mainstreaming within UNICEF Pacific (Study)An investigation into the role and status of Gender mainstreaming within UNICEF Pacific’s

2008-2012 Multi-Country Programme.

Urbanisation and Children in the Pacific (Study)A literature review on urbanisation and children in the Pacific prepared for UNICEF Pacific’s mid-

term review.

Understanding HIV and AIDS Risk and Vulnerability among Youth in Kiribati, Solomon Islands and VanuatuUNICEF Pacific has supported the Governments of Kiribati, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands to

produce baseline reports that provide data on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of most at

risk and especially vulnerable adolescents and young people.

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Food & Security in Pacific Island Nations and Territories: a position paper with emphasis on food and nutrition security of mothers and childrenThis position paper emphasizes UNICEF’s support for ‘improved nutrition and health in a changing

world and in a Pacific susceptible to climate change’.

Looking Back, Moving Forward 2009/2010: A review and update on UNICEF’s Work for Pacific Island children

Life in Vanuatu Multiple Indicator Cluster – Young People’s Edition This publication is based on the Vanuatu Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which was

conducted in 2007 by the Ministry of Health, Government of the Republic of Vanuatu (GoV) with

support from UNICEF Pacific. The publication presents the survey results in an accessible format,

ideal for younger audiences.

Examples of Knowledge Products developed in 2010

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NACC ToolkitThe National Coordinating Committees for Children (NACC) Toolkit is a series of tools to assist

Pacific Island Countries to monitor and report on the progress of implementation of the

Convention on the Right’s of the Child (CRC). The Toolkit is the result of a comprehensive

assessment of NACC capacity requirements and extensive consultation.

Media for Pacific Children

Nine productions including tv spots, radio spots, story books and posters that were developed

entirely by young people as part of the Media for Children Workshop.

Global Economic Crisis video

This video was developed as part of the Global Economic Crisis Workshop that was held in 2010

in Vanuatu. The video highlights vulnerabilities and the different ways poverty is experienced

in the Pacific.

One Minute JuniorsOne Minute Juniors is an initiative that brings together young people from all walks of life to

produce one minute videos around issues that are relevant to young people. The young people

involved in the One Minute Juniors Workshop held in Suva in 2009 were from urban and rural

areas all around Fiji and produced 20 one minute videos.

NACC CRC Implementation Planning, Budgeting, and Coordination

elem

ent

1

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Video and Multimedia

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Emergency pocket size brochure and water purification user flyer

10 communication messages developed in consultation with all programmes to

support the practice of key behaviors during emergenceis.

Breastfeeding, the best start for your babyImportant information about feeding your baby

Breastfeeding gives your baby all the nutrients it needs for the first six months of life, and

continues to benefit your baby along with solid foods for many months. It helps to protect

your baby from infection and other diseases.

WASH Posters – Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Vanuatu

UNICEF Pacific developed WASH IEC materials to promote hygenic habits and to be used for

orientation and /or training of community groups on hygenie and sanitation promotion.

Cover and keep your family’s food safe, fresh and away from anything that can make it spoiled such as flies, cockroaches and rats. Don’t eat spoiled food it can make you sick.

Make sure that any dead animals are buried or disposed safely and away from where people live.

Play with your children regularly everyday, tell each other stories and sing together. Allow children to talk about what has happened. Try to keep a daily routine. The sense of ‘normalcy’ will help you all cope with your situation.

Keep your children and

family safe,healthy and well – always!

Make sure all family members and children wash their hands properly with water and soap before handling food and feeding children. This can prevent them getting infections and diarrhoea.

Produced with support from - unite for children

7. 8. 9. 10.

Keep up to date through the media and public

information services to stay informed.

Examples of Communication for Development Products developed in 2010

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Hand washing flyers – Fiji Produced for the Global Handwashing Day and was distributed amongst school children who

participated in the celebration

Digital Fans for Ministry of Health – Kiribati and Vanuatu

Digital fans were developed for Kiribati and Vanuatu as part of UNICEF’s WASH campaign. The fans has

messages on key WASH behaviours that have been adapted in I-Kiribati and Bislama. The fans

complement other WASH materials such as radio spots, posters,banners and newspaper strips.

EPI Charts and 7 Modules of IMCI Manuals

WHO and UNICEF used updated technical findings to develop a training package for integrated

management of childhood illnesses. The training package has been adapted for use in Kiribati and Fiji.

Food for growing children – Flip Chart

10 Key Messages from birth to two years developed to encourage mothers to provide appropriate care

and nutrition during the first two years of life, an important period of rapid growth and development for

children.

IMMUNIZATION CHARTS

Foods for Growing Children

10 Key Messages from Birth to two years Adapted from

“Infant young child feeding counselling: an intergrated course” by World Health Organization and UNICEF.“Foods for growing children in Fiji: 10 Key Messages from Birth to 2 years” National Food and Nutrition

Centre, Suva, Fiji.

INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF CHILDHOOD ILLNESS

FOLLOW-UP

Modules

Some Key Events in 2011 for UNICEF

MONTHJanuary

February

March

April

May

International Days and UNICEF events

SOWC 2011 launch – Joint launch in Kiribati and Fiji on 26 FebruaryUNDG Asia Pacific Meeting

Asia Pacific Regional Leaders’ Meeting

UN Joint Strategic meeting for Solomons

International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (6)“Girls are…Boys are”

International Women’s Day (8)

World Water Day (22)“Water for cities: Responding to the urban Challenge”

EAPSA AGM (28), Bangkok, Thailand

Pacific Forum Education Ministers Meeting

World Health Day (7)“Antimicrobial resistance”

UN Psychology Day (14)

Pacific Food Summit

Forum Economic Ministers Meeting

Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, Geneva, Switzerland (8-13)

Education in Emergencies Front Line Responder TrainingCentral & Eastern Division and Nadroga/Navosa Province

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August

September

October

November

December

Pacific Islands Health Ministers’ Meeting

World Population Day (11)

World Breastfeeding Week (1-7)

International Youth Day (12)

Japan-Pacific Immunization Programme Strengthening (J-PIPS) meeting, Pacific Islands Forum, New Zealand (6-9)

Pacific Paediatrician’s Conference (8)

Pacific Forum Education Ministers Meeting

CRGA (Committee of Representatives of Governments and Administrations), Majuro Marshall Islands

World Teachers Day (15)

Global Hand Washing Day (15)

UN day (24)

Universal Children’s Day (20)

RMT-2

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against women (25)

Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, Busan, Korea (29)

World AIDS Day (1)

State of the World’s Children Report 2012

International Human Rights Day (10

World Environment Day (5)

World Day Against Child Labour “Hazardous Child Labour” (12)

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June

July

74

UN

ICEF PAC

IFIC APPRO

VEDO

RGAN

ISATION

AL STRUC

TURE

2010-2012

54

Financial Report 2010

Programme Available Funds Funds Spent Percentage Used

Health and Sanitation

2,621,277.93

3,271,794.45

2,427,830.78

1,179,940.01

1,724,181.43 1,722,584.13 100%

1,179,939.00

2,427,394.25

3,225,728.88

2,607,010.00 99%

99%

100%

100%

Education

Child Protection

Policy, Advocacy,Planning and Evaluation

HIV and AIDS

56

United Nations Children’s Fund3rd & 5th Floor, FDB Building360 Victoria ParadeSuva, FIJI

Telephone: (679) 330 0439Fax: (679) 330 1667

Mailing Address:UNICEF PacificPrivate Mail BagSuva, FIJI

Email: [email protected]/pacificislands

Cover photo: © UNICEF Pacific / JHing/ 2010 Pacific Emergency Response Team (UNICEF Pacific) PFTAC...

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Transcript of Cover photo: © UNICEF Pacific / JHing/ 2010 Pacific Emergency Response Team (UNICEF Pacific) PFTAC...