The United Nations Population Fund receives a US$6.5 million grant from Dutch Government to strengthen commodity supply chain system and enhance access to care for SGBV survivors in the provinces of North and South Kivu
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 5 October 2016 – UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, signed a grant agreement of US$6.5 million with the Government of the Netherlands today.
The funding is expected to strengthen the commodity supply chain system and enhance access to quality comprehensive medical and psychosocial care for survivors of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in the provinces of North and South Kivu.
UNFPA Representative in the DR Congo, Diene Keita and the Ambassador of the Netherlands in the DR Congo, Gerard Michels, signed the funding agreement for the three-year project, which aims at enabling women, adolescents, youth and vulnerable populations in the Kivu region to choose and use family planning commodities as part of a total service package, as well as access to comprehensive medical and psychological care for SGBV survivors.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mrs. Keita thanked the Government of the Netherlands for joining other development partners to support the implementation of the programme of cooperation between UNFPA and the DR Congo Government.
“I am delighted to be signing this agreement as it will allow us to provide timely and quality health care services to 500,000 women of reproductive age, including SGBV survivors and to youth in order to create opportunities to enable them to improve their future,” she said. The project is to be implemented in 11 health zones in North and South Kivu.
The Netherlands Ambassador commended UNFPA for the excellent collaboration with his government and for attending to the reproductive health needs of the women and girls of the DR Congo.
“We are especially pleased to allocate funds to this UNFPA project as it aims to improve women’s status, which is an important theme of the Netherlands’ development cooperation. It includes sexual and reproductive health and combating gender-based violence. We are proud to partner with UNFPA to promote family planning and provide quality care to SGBV survivors,” he said.
The grant will enable UNFPA and the DR Congo Government to strengthen the supply chain system and improve the health and well-being of women and girls in the provinces of North and South Kivu, and reduce the current high unmet need for family planning, which stands at 28 per cent. In the DR Congo, two women die from pregnancy-related complications every hour.
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For more information, please contact:
Assane BA, Communications Specialist, UNFPA DR Congo: +243 815 304 42
Brigitte Kiaku, Communications Specialist, UNFPA DR Congo: + 243 818 302 437
