With Little Funding, UN-Supported Program Reduces Child Deaths In Ethiopia
New York, Jun 9 2005
Despite being woefully under-funded, an innovative, United Nations-backed health and nutrition program has made
"remarkable progress" in reducing child deaths in Ethiopia this year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The Enhanced Outreach Strategy/Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme for Child Survival (EOS) receives only 20
percent of its funding requirements, OCHA said today. However, it has been able to reach nearly seven million children
under five years of age for immunizations and nutritional screening and supplements.
The program is a joint initiative of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, its Disaster Preparedness and Prevention
Commission, as well as the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
To date, five million children in eight regions have been screened and supplied with vitamin A supplements, and four
million children have been cleared of worms, OCHA said. Around 2,200 health professionals have been trained in child survival interventions.
As part of its food assistance, EOS is giving control of distribution to village women. Some 6,000 of them will be
trained to receive, store and distribute food aid, as well as to educate beneficiaries on nutrition, by the end of 2005.
Funding covers nearly 65 percent of food aid requirements in Ethiopia, according to OCHA, but only 12 percent of the
non-food budget is currently being met. Of the $135.6 million needed for non-food humanitarian assistance projects, only
$30.6 has been covered, it said.
ENDS