| UNICEF |
EDUCATION
• ‘School-in-a-Box’ kits have been distributed
to the most severely affected areas of the country. Each kit
has educational supplies for more than 80 students and 2 teachers
and contains such items as exercise books, pens, crayons,
blackboards, chalk, scissors, tape and school bags. 500 ‘School-in-a-Box’
kits have been distributed to the severely hit areas of Batticaloa,
Ampara, Trincomalee, Mullaitivu, Jaffna, Hambantota, Galle,
Kalutara and Gampaha, providing school supplies to 40,000
children. 3,000 more ‘School-in-a-Box’ kits will
be arriving at the end of the week and will be distributed
on a priority basis, providing supplies for a total of 240,000
children and 6,000 teachers.
• Over 100 schools damaged by the tsunami are being
cleaned and refurbished so that they can open before the end
of January. Rubble is being cleared, minor repairs and white-washing
is being carried out, and latrines and water points are being
established.
• UNICEF and GTZ are working together to provide urgently
needed psychosocial support to children through teachers trained
as counsellors
• Desks and chairs for students of different age groups,
and teachers, are being ordered and made in Colombo and elsewhere
throughout the country. This will boost local employment and
ensure that schools have furniture as soon as possible.
• Uniform fabric has been ordered, cutting arranged
in Colombo, and stitching is being carried out locally so
as to reach children quickly, meet local needs, and contribute
to local employment efforts.
• The construction of temporary schools using locally
sourced materials and voluntary labour is also underway.
HEALTH & NUTRITION
• Within 72 hours emergency health kits containing essential
drugs and equipment capable of servicing up to 150,000 people
for three months were provided to all affected areas.
• UNICEF immediately produced and distributed 200,000
leaflets in both Tamil and Sinhalese with health messages
to mitigate the spread of communicable disease, accident prevention
and safe hygiene practices
• An initial batch of water purification tablets, oral
re-hydration salts and intravenous fluids were distributed
to affected families to help prevent disease outbreaks in
camps.
• 200,000 leaflets have been developed for the protection
and promotion of breastfeeding.
• A nutrition survey has been developed and will be
conducted in affected areas from the beginning of next week
to understand the nutritional status of women and children
and track subsequent changes and the effect of interventions.
• In order to improve referral of emergency cases and
to provide outreach services, 19 double cabs and 7 ambulances
have been ordered for the Ministry of Health.
• Restoration of the Cold Chain through provision of
vaccine carriers, cold boxes, refrigerators and deep freezers
as well as 5 vaccine transport vans and 3 drug/vaccine transport
lorries.
WATER & SANITATION
UNICEF staff were immediately seconded to the water and sanitation
desk at the government’s Centre for National Operations
(CNO) to provide technical assistance for the government’s
response to the crisis. UNICEF is also the lead agency for
coordinating the UN’s water and sanitation response
to the tsunami disaster. Key activities include supporting
the construction of latrines in camps, schools and communities;
providing hand washing facilities and hygiene education, and
constructing bathing facilities in camps.
CHILD PROTECTION & PSYCHOSOCIAL
CARE
The Government of Sri Lanka, UNICEF, Save the Children in
Sri Lanka (SCiSL) and the ILO are working together closely
to ensure that these children remain in safe environments,
protected from violence, exploitation and abuse.
As one of the lead agencies for child protection and psychosocial
care, UNICEF is supporting a national coalition to trace &
care for unaccompanied and separated children; training psychosocial
workers in 10 of the 12 affected districts and is procuring
and distributing recreation kits for temporary camps so that
children can regain a glimmer of normalcy. |
16/01/2005 |