Humanitarian Thematic Fund

The conflict in Yemen is entering its seventh year in 2021. The humanitarian situation continues to worsen, and the conflict is becoming more complex, while the COVID-19 pandemic further overloaded an already collapsed health system, in addition to its overall impact on the country and its population. Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, and the cumulative impact of the conflict, economic decline and institutional collapse has left 24 million people in need of humanitarian aid and protection. In 2021, two HTF-supported projects were implemented in Yemen with a total contribution of $1.8 million . Around 8,034 women and girls were provided with skilled delivery services in the supported health facilities, 39,222 women and girls received various SRH services, in line with the MISP services, through the 14 supported facilities. About 30,567 women and girls received GBV mitigation and response services through the six safe spaces and one safe shelter. In total, the funding helped the UNFPA Yemen country office reach more than 100,000 women and girls in need.

A total of $320,998 in HTF resources were provided as Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) for pregnant and lactating women and girls in Syria. As of 2021, a record 12.4 million Syrians were assessed to be food insecure. The scale, severity and complexity of humanitarian needs have significantly worsened since 2019 due to a dramatic economic downturn, soaring food prices, and the rampant devaluation of the local currency, compounded by the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 and protracted conflict. Pregnant and lactating women participating in the programme receive a monthly value e-voucher for fresh food and selected hygiene items. The e-voucher was an important entry point to a variety of complementary services for around 40,983 women during their pregnancy and breastfeeding period. The services include sensitization on healthy nutrition, reproductive health and GBV, and antenatal and postnatal services in UNFPA-affiliated clinics and access to UNFPA-supported Women and Girls Safe Spaces.

Somalia received $303,704 from the HTF in 2021 to strengthen prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) country systems and to providelife-saving sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence services for women and girls affected by Cyclone. Somalia has one of the most complex and protracted humanitarian crises in the world, and the situation was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the HTF funded projects, UNFPA supported the PSEA coordinator role who supported senior leadership in developing and implementing an in-country PSEA strategy, oversaw the in-country network, strengthened mechanisms within organizations, and engaged stakeholders, including women-led organizations. Further, the tropical Cyclone Gati developed on 22 November 2020 along the coastline of Puntland, Somalia, leaving a trail of physical and economic damage. The HTF supported the provision of Integrated Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) and Mobile Clinics, with referral services, improved access to GBV service through three GBV one-stop centers, supported the joint and multi-cluster rapid assessment and specific SRH and GBV information to ensure response activities are well informed and the needs of women and girls are addressed. Around 200,000 people will be benefitted from life-saving sexual and reproductive health and multisectoral gender based violence services.

The IASC System-Wide Scale-Up was activated in Afghanistan on 11 September 2021 and extended until 11 June 2022. A one time allocation of $2,782,000 was allocated to Afghanistan in quick response to the humanitarian emergency - delivering integrated SRH and GBV services for women and girls affected by the crisis, including procurement of IARH kits and establishment of three area offices. Because of the conflict, more than 409,000 people have been newly internally displaced by the conflict between the Taliban and  Government forces and the Taliban’s territorial expansion from May-August. Besides, Afghanistan is prone to natural disasters, including drought and floods. The length of the project is a full year. The three Area Offices will function as regional hubs: in the Western (Herat), Southern (Kandahar), and Eastern (Nangarhar) regions of the country. Collectively, they will cover 13 provinces with a total population of more than 14 million of which more than 7 million are female and 1.6 million are women of reproductive age. New health facilities and Women Friendly Health Spaces are expected to be established under guidance of area offices and IARH kits and tents will also be distributed. An estimate of 2,969,350 people will benefit from this HTF-funded project.

Two HTF allocations totalling $683,152 were distributed to the Papua New Guinea (PNG) country office. PNG is among the high risk countries to La Niña, and one of the projects is for preparedness activities for La Nina to address the GBV and SRH needs of vulnerable women and girls. The project created a database of all training of trainers on MISP, clinical management of rape (CMR) and GBVIE in PNG and continued to provide an avenue for the trainers to showcase and use the knowledge gained to train others in future training sessions. There was improved capacity building of first responders and humanitarian actors both clinical and non-clinical to respond to uninterrupted life-saving essential health services. UNFPA, in partnership with PNG Family Health Association, conducted two GBV and SRHR campaigns led by the youth in the provinces of East New Britain and Morobe with awareness visitation of five secondary and primary schools in Port Moresby. The nine-month project funded by HTF strengthened the operationalisation and functionality of essential GBV and SRH service providers in six provinces of PNG affected by La Nina and COVID-19. The other project helped the PNG country office to address the GBV and SRHR needs of vulnerable women and girls through raising awareness, training of frontline workers, establishing and strengthening service provisions, and creating a safe and enabling environment for women and girls. Psychosocial support was also provided to GBV survivors through 'Wantok' counseling hotlines. A total of 17,902 women and girls were reached.

In 2021, UNFPA allocated $361,979 to the Indonesia country office, providing SRH Services and GBV prevention and response services during COVID-19. The project is a cross-year project which started implementation in 2020. PPE has been distributed for selected midwives and frontline health workers. The project included provision of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for midwives and SRH/GBV frontline health workers, capacity building for midwifery and selected health centers by disseminating guideline for provision of maternal, newborn health and contraceptive services, PPE for frontline SRH workers at 300 midwifery clinics, and distribution of dignity kits to ensure that women who are homebound, quarantined or with movement restrictions receive essential items while being provided with information on GBV and SRH services and COVID-19 risk mitigation. There was also online training to strengthen the knowledge of service providers and online platforms to maximize reach and raise public awareness. Awareness creation of SRH through community engagement and education especially for pregnant mothers were also provided to over 15,000 women and girls.

The UNFPA Humanitarian Office allocated $939,334 in HTF resources to the Ethiopia country office in response to the Scale-up crisis in Northern Ethiopia. The funds were used to strengthen PSEA systems, and to meet the emerging needs of the 1.2 million who have been displaced -  refugees and are affected host populations due to the crisis. The HTF helped meet the need of training on GBV, BEmONC, clinical management of rape and MISP as few partners had solid competences in these fields at the onset of the emergency. UNFPA was able to extend the number of health service delivery points for survivors, ensuring access for survivors. UNFPA ensures the continuation of the Minimum Initial Service Package for SRH in Crisis (MISP) for all people affected by the crisis. The HTF helped strengthen UNFPA’s preparedness and response to deliver timely humanitarian assistance to about 1,056,000 vulnerable women, girls and young people through the two projects.

In 2021, Mozambique received $790,128 from the HTF to ensure the continuity of SRH and GBV services targeting women and girls affected by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado. Since 2017, Mozambique´s northern province of Cabo Delgado has been hit by a wave of violence with attacks on villages by armed actors and clashes between government security forces and non-state armed groups. Moreover, Mozambique has experienced a significant deterioration of the humanitarian situation due to extreme climate events including cyclones, droughts and floods that have most severely affected the central and northern provinces. About 5,400 women and girl's received timely and high quality and integrated SRH services (including EmONC, family planning and clinical management of rape), through mobile brigades, and GBV services; 333 women and girls GBV survivors received post-GBV care (case management and psychosocial services) based on the minimum package, nine Women and Girls' Safe Spaces were established. Programme activities were implemented in a timely, effective and coordinated manner addressing the SRH and GBV needs of around 100,000 most vulnerable populations.

The Grand Sud of Madagascar (Great South), an arid zone populated by 2.78 million people, has been affected by three successive years of extreme drought, the most severe drought in 40 years. This has resulted in widespread food insecurity and malnutrition. An amount of $295,554 from the HTF was provided to Madagascar in 2021 to ensure the continuity of life saving services, such as sexual and reproductive health, and gender-based violence prevention and response services. Protection against PSEA at a minimum by restoring pre-crisis capacity through the government primary health care delivery system and support for the urgent humanitarian response on the ground were also provided. The response is aligned to its Global Humanitarian Response principles and targets 31,396 women of reproductive age, 6,038 pregnant women including those with obstetric complications, 1,250 GBV survivors and protection service providers. Around 31,396 women and girls have been reached with integrated SRH and GBV life saving services.

Türkiye has been facing a protracted crisis for almost a decade. The humanitarian situation for people in northwest Syria has remained dire as the impact of COVID-19 preventative measures and the rapid devaluation of the Syrian Pound (SYP) have placed additional strain on the population. There are about 4.9 million Syrians in Türkiye. Their access to rights, services and assistance is significantly limited. The HTF funds have enabled the Türkiye country office to support the most vulnerable refugees through SRH and GBV and protection services. In order to respond to the immediate lifesaving protection needs of newly arriving and continuously moving IDPs who UNFPA and its partners may only encounter once and/or who cannot be supported through GBV case management, UNFPA has provided, through four Implementing Partners, a one-off unconditional Individual Protection Assistance (IPA) in the form of cash assistance. In the continuous project, an approximate total of 100-120 USD will be given to each beneficiary and around 3,333 women and girls benefited from the project supported by the fund.

Azerbaijan country office received $286,392 from the HTF to provide people affected by the armed conflict with safe, cost-effective and timely access to essential sexual and reproductive health care and psycho-social support services. The most severe escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since 27 September 2020 has brought major deprivations and suffering to the civil population residing in the districts adjacent to the conflict area as well as far beyond. The funds helped reduce vulnerability of women and girls to violence and improved awareness of available protection and support services by providing 1,400 dignity kits and informing them about available GBV referral pathways and SRH services. It also improved access of 4,000 women and girls to healthcare through mobile services with a focus on SRH. About 1,500 GBV survivors, pregnant and lactating women, women and girls with disabilities, elderly were helped with strategies for handling the consequences of the conflict-related stress and trauma through mobile psycho-social support service.

To provide GBV and SRH services to people accommodated in refugees and migrants reception centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, $251,913 was allocated from the HTF in 2021. Refugees, asylum seekers and migrants traveling and present in Bosnia and Herzegovina are continuously exposed to a number of vulnerabilities, including food deprivation, exhaustion and health issues. Around 12,836 women and girls received empowerment and psycho-social support through outreach activities in WGCs and Reception Centers, 2,409 dignity kits containing hygiene and sanitary items were provided to the affected population and they were served as an entry point for broader programming on SRH and GBV, including outreach and awareness activities on services available through Women and Girls Centers. In addition, UNFPA has established three Boys and Young Men Centers - they serve as a safe space for identifying vulnerable individuals for referral to other service providers. UNFPA and its ministerial partners jointly developed and maintained websites, including two public viber channels/facebook communities and a mobile app that provided detailed instructions, video tutorials and webinars, infographics, guidelines and how-to exercises across 146 municipalities. Medical professionals could learn how to protect themselves, how to administer treatments as well as how to assess patient recovery and how to monitor and report cases. A total of eight women's shelters psychologists provided continuous care and support to survivors entering the shelters, including their children. A total of more than 500,000 people are directly and indirectly reached.

A total of $1,128,850 from the HTF was allocated to Haiti in 2021 to increase access to essential SRH and GBV services and supplies for women of reproductive age in the affected areas by the 7.2 magnitude Earthquake struck Southwestern Haiti in August 2021. The Earthquake caused severe damages and casualties. Thousands of people are now living in open spaces, spontaneous sites such as churches and schools with no safety against natural elements. Sexual and reproductive health needs and all forms of violence increased dramatically during the emergency. The HTF guaranteed the continuity of essential and life-saving SRH services in the most affected areas by the earthquake. It also improved access to essential SRH lifesaving services including EmONC in functional hospitals and other health centers. RH kits, clean delivery kits, and PPE have also been distributed to targeted health facilities. The project will be continued in 2022 and an estimate of 20,000 people will be reached.

The COVID-19 pandemic and hurricanes Eta and Iota worsened the longstanding multidimensional crises in Honduras. inequality and violence are on the rise, access to basic services is shrinking, with growing displacement and migration, soaring poverty, worsening nutrition and increasing food insecurity. Around 2.8 million people in Honduras are in need of humanitarian assistance. The HTF ensured the effective coordination of the SRH subsector, GBV subsectors and the humanitarian response in the country to support the delivery of affected population centered services. An integrated training on MISP has been provided to institutional health services personnel who are direct service providers for vulnerable populations and technicians and managers from the central level of the Ministry of Health, staff of civil society organizations and human rights defenders that promote sexual and reproductive rights of young people.

In the context of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the $282,520 from the HTF supported the Venezuela country office to strengthen the community capacity, particularly of women and girls to confront gender-based violence and protection risks, to enhance GBV inter-agency coordination and accountability to affected populations, and to ensure Accountability to Affected Population (AAP) through the establishment of complaint and feedback mechanisms at five targeted states. Venezuela's political and economic crisis and the subsequent deterioration of security and living standards has left 7 million people in need including 1.6 million of people in need of GBV protection services, mainly women and girls in mobility. Additionally, this has resulted in a massive displacement of its population. Through the HTF funded project, GBV needs assessment was conducted at the community level in the different humanitarian hubs, and economic and equipment support to ensure the continuation of the Maracaibo Contact Line was also conducted. Around 4,500 women and adolescents in mobility will be accessed dignity kits to cover their essential menstrual hygiene needs and access lifesaving information on GBV prevention and available services

A total of $1,597,906 from the HTF was allocated to the Central African Republic, Cameroon and Chad in 2021 to strengthen humanitarian capacity in the West and Central Africa Region. This is a multi-year project that will continue in 2022. These countries have been in a protracted humanitarian crisis for years and there is little indication of a forthcoming resolution to the crisis . The positions supported the country office programming and committed to strategic resource mobilization to strengthen country office self-financial reliance. Humanitarian response coordination was strengthend with the support of information management officers. UNFPA staff in the region have also been leading on data collection, analyses of needs and monitoring the GBV response. In the West and Central Africa Region, UNFPA has been struggling to ensure the continuity and human resource investment that would enable adequate, operational GBV coordination structures that are capable of scaling up to meet needs. In response, the HTF filled in the gaps in service delivery, quality, standards and coverage in countries, including in the most severe and priority areas as identified in-country HNOs.

The Nigeria country office received $499,370 in HTF allocations in 2021. The funds supported the Adolescent Mothers against All Odds (AMAL) Initiative in a quick and flexible manner. The AMAL project is designed to meet adolescents’ SRH needs through the creation of adolescent-responsive health systems and equitable community environments.The humanitarian crisis in Northeast Nigeria has had a devastating effect which has resulted in destruction and loss of lives and properties. The project supported the capacity building of healthcare providers to work effectively at community level in addressing adolescent SRH issues, and empowered young mothers to address and ensure lifeskills on SRH and uptake of adolescent SRH services. Around 40 health providers, 180 community stakeholders, 216 mothers were trained on SRH and GBV information. Working closely with the Government and other stakeholders is key to achieving project results under implementation, during which community advisory meetings were held with stakeholders bi weekly as well.

In an urgent response to flooded, post-conflict affected localities, HTF resources were allocated in the Congo country office in 2020 and the project continued in 2021 with $472,866 balance. Midwives, psychologists, and social workers will be deployed, plus advanced strategies for access to SRH, GBV protection, for women, girls and most vulnerable people. Congo also received another HTF allocation in response to flood: access to sexual and reproductive health services, including access to family planning were ensured, awareness and dissemination of information for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, and highly contagious diseases such as Ebola and Cholera were shared in context of flooding, psychological support was provided to victims of sexual and gender-based violence, medical management of cases of sexual and gender-based violence were also provided. About 4,701 deliveries were carried out, 496 direct obstetric complications were treated, 1,772 postnatal consultations were carried out, 42,817 people were sensitized within the communities on fighting against GBV, STIs and HIV/AIDS, 18,111 people were provided with PPE, 1,465 most vulnerable women and girls, and  women and girls were provided with dignity and hygiene kits alongside information about where and how to access services. The HTF supported the Republic of Congo to reach around 102,990 women, girls and young people in need.