| Home > Local News | |
| UNICEF Regional Director to Boost Programs For Children | |
|
Written By:
Article Date: March 24, 2008 |
|
|
|
|
|
UNICEF Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa, Sigrid Kaag ended today a 3-day visit to boost efforts for ameliorating the plight of children and women. She followed a hectic schedule of meetings and field visits to grasp the challenges facing the development programmes and see how UNICEF can enhance the efficiency of its programme of cooperation in the best interest of children. Sigrid Kaag’s itinerary offered her an opportunity to witness some of the major activities including exchange of ideas with the country’s top leadership in a candid way to maximize cooperation for supporting Yemen to fulfill its obligations for realizing the rights of the child. UNICEF Regional Director held intensive consultations with development partners, UN Heads of agencies and national counterparts to take existing partnership to a higher level. With UNICEF’s new Country Programme Action Plan 2007-2011, Yemen stands on the anvil of a critical opportunity to fulfill and protect the rights of children and women and facilitate access to health, education, water and sanitation and protection from abuse neglect and exploitation. Sigrid Kaag’s itinerary has been carefully crafted to cover the diverse nature of UNICEF mandate making precious space for interaction at different levels and ensuring time for face to face interaction with children, adolescents and community leaders. In the recent years, UNICEF has been striving to take its interventions to scale and reach the children in remote areas with active partnership with government, NGOs and bilateral donors. During her stay in the capital, UNICEF Regional Director took a field visit to Sanhan Governorate to get a first hand feel of the community based activities devoted to accelerate girls’ education, which is one of the priority concerns for UNICEF cooperation. She also took a day-long visit to Aden and met the Governor and other senior counterpart departments’ officials and inaugurate Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centers set up with UNICEF support as part of community based initiatives for HIV/AIDS. The activities in the field are centered around personal interaction with children and adolescents to hear their voices and views on the issues that have a direct bearing on their wellbeing. The 3-day visit is likely to give more visibility and credence to Yemen’s serious efforts for realizing the rights of child and some of its pioneering efforts to cope with child trafficking and strengthening juvenile justice system.
|
|