Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

The aim of the projects is to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to highly vulnerable families and children most affected by drought through the implementation of critical, timely and lifesaving multisectoral interventions in nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, education, child protection and social and behaviour change communication.

Expected results

In particular, Austria's contribution will: 1) reduce the mortality and morbidity of children due to acute malnutrition among the most vulnerable children in Angola and increase equitable access to integrated lifesaving malnutrition treatment services 2) improve water security by ensuring access to sufficient quantity and quality of water for drinking and domestic needs, 3) ensure children have access to quality education through provision of education in emergency materials, including temporary learning spaces, 4) prevent and respond to risks of violence against women and children 5) inform the affected population through a community-based peer-to-peer and interpersonal communication strategy on access to services, including nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, education and child protection.

Target group / Beneficiaries

With the Austrian contribution, UNICEF is targeting 400,000 direct beneficiaries through nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene, education, and child protection interventions.

Activities

Amongst others, activities include:

- Procurement, transport and delivery of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food

- Support sub-national nutrition programme to deliver the integrated management of acute malnutrition programme including screening, treatment, and care of children with severe wasting

- Procurement and distribution of water, sanitation and hygiene equipment

- Conduct social and behaviour change campaigns to promote household water treatment and safe storage, safe sanitation, and basic hygiene

- Monitoring of temporary learning spaces and education in emergency materials

- Procurement of individual learning kits for school students as well as recreational kits

- Strengthen child protection coordination mechanisms at provincial level

- Support community engagement and sensitization on gender-based violence prevention and response services

- Design, produce and distribute flipbooks as well as radio messages on key positive behaviours on nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene, education and child protection

Context

Angola continues to face the worst drought in 40 years, characterized by four consecutive years of failed crops, rising food prices and insufficient food consumption. According to the WFP’s Seasonal Overview, it is estimated that around 3.8 million people are food insecure. With drought conditions remaining severe throughout the south of Angola, particularly due to poor harvest, limited access to food, economic shocks, and the slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, along with a significantly underfunded humanitarian action in the country, the implications of drought are felt across all sectors: An estimated 2.3 million people are in need of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, of whom 1.2 million facing water scarcity and having their WASH conditions compromised. Rates of school dropouts increased massively and 1.2 million children in need of education support in 2023. Reports of heightened protection risks, particularly for women and girls, aggravate the situation further. Under these circumstances, UNICEFs continued effort to enable the delivery of timely and lifesaving nutrition, WASH, education, and child protection interventions and Austria’s contribution to achieve that are vital.