UNFPA SPECIAL REPORT SIX MONTHS AFTER THE TSUNAMI:

 

MEETING WOMEN’S NEEDS, SUPPORTING ACEH’S FUTURE

(Delayed in transmission.)

BANGKOK, 24 June (UNFPA) -- A new report on the web documents UNFPA’s efforts to re-establish quality reproductive health services and assist traumatized tsunami survivors in Aceh province, Indonesia, where half a million displaced people live in camps.  Visit www.unfpa.org/emergencies/pacific/update.

Six months after the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is helping health authorities in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Thailand and India to rebuild and resupply damaged facilities and train staff, so pregnant women can deliver safely and couples can plan their families.  In Aceh, a UNFPA-supported census will facilitate recovery by providing data on the needs of affected communities.

The Fund also continues to help meet the needs and ensure the dignity of survivors, especially women, by providing basic hygiene kits, clean delivery supplies, contraceptives, psychosocial counselling and skills training.  And it is working with various partners to promote women’s rights and prevent gender-based violence.

The web report details these activities in Aceh, featuring women.  UNFPA is helping to cope with grief and hardship.

For more information, please contact:  William A. Ryan, e-mail:  ryanw@unfpa.org, tel.:  +66 2 288 2446, mobile:  +66 9 897 6984.

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