Media Update-2: United Nations Pakistan, 25 November 2020

UNDP

PRESS RELEASE

Second Provincial Project steering committee held to review the progress of UNDP’s Scaling up of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Risk Reduction in Northern Pakistan (GLOF-II) Project

Islamabad, November 24, 2020— UNDP in Pakistan held the second Provincial Project Steering Committee (PPSC) for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to review the progress of the Scaling up of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Risk Reduction in Northern Pakistan (GLOF-II) Project. Chaired by Nauman Afridi, Chief Economist, Planning and Development Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the agenda of the meeting was to review the progress of the Annual Work Plan (AWP) 2020, endorse the most vulnerable valleys under the project, and to review the AWP for 2021, in consultation with the Provincial PSC members.

Attendees of the meeting included Chief Foreign-Aid, Representatives of line Departments, PDMA, PMD, Agriculture, Forest and Environment, and GLOF-II Project members. Following the welcome remarks by the Chair, and Office In-charge GLOF II project, a progress update on the AWP 2020 was provided by relevant line department of KP. Since project activities started in KP after transfer of funds in June 2020, the aim of the PPSC is to review and discuss the progress achieved against each agreed activity. The implementation status and consolidated progress to date of the approved activities under AWP 2020 in notified valleys was presented along with challenges, and lesson learnt to set basis for the AWP 2021.

PPSC approved all the activities proposed for the year 2021  including the three valleys remaining for KP for National PSC to notify. Key activities in 2021 would include development of small-scale infrastructure, irrigation channel repairs, slope stabilization activities, community-based interventions by establishing safe-havens, safe access routes, and kitchen gardening. PPSC members also discussed the provincial planning for disaster risk reduction including mock drills to be conducted in the vulnerable valleys, particularly GLOFs, to be incorporated in the provincial contingency planning.

As a pre-requisite to the National PSC, all future activities under AWP 2021 must be endorsed at the provincial level. As of now, the five-year project, funded by the Green Climate Fund is extensively working in the northern areas of the country to strengthen the technical capacity of sub-national decision-makers to integrate climate change, and disaster risk management into medium- and long-term development planning, to help communities adapt to the impacts of climate change particularly GLOFs.

For additional information, please contact Ayesha Babar at ayesha.babar@undp.org  or +92 (51) 835 5650

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UNHCR

PRESS RELEASE

UNHCR organizes activities to mark 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence

ISLAMABAD, 25 November 2020: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency organizes a number of activities across Pakistan in collaboration with UN agencies, its partners and refugees to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence – an international campaign that runs from 25 November through 10 December every year.

Individuals, institutions and organizations across the world plan activities to highlight that violence against women is a breach of human rights, calling for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

To support this initiative, started by the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991, the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign by 2030 (UNiTE campaign) calls for global action to increase awareness, galvanize advocacy efforts, and share knowledge and innovations. This year’s theme is "Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!" which focuses on the COVID-19 crisis.

While keeping in mind COVID-19 SOPs, UNHCR’s offices across Pakistan have planned activities that focus on combating violence against women and girls, including to emphasize the positive role of individuals.

The UNHCR Representative in Pakistan, Ms. Noriko Yoshida, said that arranging such activities are aimed at expressing solidarity with survivors of violence and raising awareness about discriminatory practices against women. “Everyone has a role to play to end violence against women and make the world a safer and prosperous place to live in,” she said.  

She further said that COVID-19 has exacerbated the risks of gender-based violence for women and girls, including those forcibly displaced, adding that prevention and response are life-saving, and this must be maintained as essential during COVID-19 lockdowns.

In Islamabad, UNHCR, together with its partners, aims to hold a virtual power talk event in December. It will be an opportunity for refugee youth and academics to discuss and shed light on the voices of women during the COVID-19 crisis and their resilience and efforts to act as agents of change in their communities.

In Peshawar, UNHCR and UN Women held an opening ceremony on Wednesday to mark the start of the 16 Days of Activism. On the occasion, the speakers, including female parliamentarians, called for collective efforts to prevent and address the issues of gender-based violence.

Students also performed a role play underlining the risks of gender-based violence in the COVID-19 pandemic. Female Afghan refugees also narrated their stories and shed light on how they pursued their ambitions amid challenges.

In Quetta, a seminar was held on Wednesday in Pishin City on the theme of “Ending violence against women”. The speakers included religious scholars and other notable community members.

To mark the last day of the 16 Days of Activism on 10 December – Human Rights Day – UNHCR will also hold an event in Quetta with refugees and Pakistani host community members. The event will include experience-sharing by female social change promoters from the refugee community. 

ENDS

Media contact

Qaiser Khan Afridi, UNHCR Spokesperson - +92 300 5018696 - afridiq@unhcr.org

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UNICEF

PRESS RELEASE

320,000 children and adolescents newly infected with HIV in 2019, 1 every 100 seconds – UNICEF

UNICEF warns of COVID-19 disruptions to HIV service delivery in one third of high burden countries

NEW YORK/JOHANNESBURG, 25 November 2020 – Approximately every minute and 40 seconds, a child or young person under the age of 20 was newly infected with HIV last year, bringing the total number of children living with HIV to 2.8 million, UNICEF said in a report released today.

The report, Reimagining a resilient HIV response for children, adolescents and pregnant women living with HIV, warns that children are being left behind in the fight against HIV.

Prevention efforts and treatment for children remain some of the lowest amongst key affected populations. In 2019, a little more than half of children worldwide had access to life-saving treatment, significantly lagging behind coverage for both mothers (85 per cent) and all adults living with HIV (62 per cent). Nearly 110,000 children died of AIDS that year.

Despite some progress in the decades-long fight against HIV and AIDS, deep regional disparities persist among all populations, especially for children, the report says. Paediatric coverage of antiretroviral treatment is highest in the Middle East and North Africa, at 81 per cent, followed by South Asia (76 per cent), Eastern and Southern Africa (58 per cent), East Asia and the Pacific (50 per cent), Latin America and the Caribbean (46 per cent) and West and Central Africa (32 per cent).

“Even as the world struggles in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic, hundreds of thousands of children continue to suffer the ravages of the HIV epidemic,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “There is still no HIV vaccine. Children are still getting infected at alarming rates, and they are still dying from AIDS. This was even before COVID-19 interrupted vital HIV treatment and prevention services putting countless more lives at risk.”

The COVID-19 crisis has further exacerbated inequities in access to life-saving HIV services for children, adolescents and pregnant mothers everywhere.

In a recent UNICEF survey of 29 HIV priority countries, one third responded that service coverage for children, adolescents and women living with and vulnerable to HIV is lower by 10 per cent or more compared with pre-pandemic numbers.

UNAIDS’ HIV service disruption data, cited in the report, further illustrate the impact of necessary control measures, supply chain disruptions, lack of personal protective equipment, and the redeployment of healthcare workers on HIV services.

In the months of April and May, coinciding with partial and full lockdowns, paediatric HIV treatment and viral load testing in children in some countries declined between 50 to 70 per cent, and new treatment initiation fell by 25 to 50 per cent.

Similarly, health facility deliveries and maternal treatment were also reported to have reduced by 20 to 60 per cent, maternal HIV testing and ART initiation declined by 25 to 50 per cent, and infant testing services declined by approximately 10 per cent.

Though the easing of control measures and the strategic targeting of children and pregnant mothers have successfully led to a rebound of services in recent months, challenges remain, and the world is still far from achieving the global 2020 paediatric HIV targets.

Additional 2019 data included in the report:

· 150,000 children aged 0-9 years were newly infected with HIV, bringing the total number of children in this age group living with HIV to 1.1 million.

· 170,000 adolescents aged 10-19 were newly infected with HIV, bringing the total number of adolescents living with HIV to 1.7 million.

· 130,000 adolescent girls were newly infected with HIV in 2019, compared with 44,000 adolescent boys.

· The total number of AIDS-related deaths of children and adolescents was 110,000; 79,000 aged 0-9 years and 34,000 aged 10-19.

· Mothers’ access to antiretroviral therapy to prevent the transmission of the virus to their babies increased globally to 85 per cent and early infant diagnosis reached 60 per cent.

· The number of pregnant women living with HIV was 1.3 million; an estimated 82,000 children under the age of five were infected during pregnancy or birth and 68,000 were infected during breastfeeding.

The report calls on all governments to protect, sustain and accelerate progress in fighting childhood HIV by maintaining essential health services and strengthening health systems.

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Notes to editors:

Multimedia content available to download here.

UNICEF Global Snapshot of Children, HIV and AIDS available here.

About UNICEF

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org. Follow UNICEF on Twitter and Facebook.

For more information, please contact:

Sara Alhattab, UNICEF New York, +1 917 957 6536, salhattab@unicef.org  

Patsy Nakell, UNICEF Johannesburg, +27 76 872 2147 / +27 79 495 5938, pnakell@unicef.org