UNICEF extends assistance

Several areas in central Cote d'Ivoire have benefited from assistance provided by the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) including rice, sugar and medicine, as the agency continues to respond to the Ivorian crisis in partnership with other UN agencies and other organisations. UNICEF, which has been active in the central, northern and western areas considered by the government to be "war zones", said in a weekly update covering the period 13-20 January that it had distributed non-food items such as soap, impregnated mosquito nets, medicine kits, mattresses and others to people sheltered in the Mie Gou displaced center, near the capital Yamoussoukro. The center with a capacity of 200 people has at least 1,200 people, most under 15. On 16 and 17 January, the agency commissioned Agostino Paganini, a senior health adviser, to conduct a mission to Yamoussoukro and Bouake to evaluate the health situation in the region. The mission, which was conducted with an expert on Polio and HIV/AIDS, recommended that UNICEF strengthen its cooperation with the World Food Programme to boost the impact of its activities and redirect activities from an emergency approach to a public health programme in crisis period approach, UNICEF said. In northern and western Cote d'Ivoire, UNICEF also distributed medical kits and non-food items in Korhogo and neighbouring areas, while it conducted a measles vaccination campaign in the Nicla refugee camp. The agency has also participated in several humanitarian evaluation missions to assess the education, water and sanitation, health and protection needs of the vulnerable populations. Apart from sister UN agencies, UNICEF is working in collaboration with national and international NGOs such as Caritas, the National Organisation for Children, Women and Family, and Rotary International.