PESHAWAR: Shoko Arakaki, UNFPA Humanitarian Director, has paid a visit to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She toured the UNFPA-supported Basic Health Unit (BHU), Phandu, in district Peshawar and interacted with women and girls from Afghan refugee families and hosting communities to hear from them about the quality of services provided, the challenges in accessing reproductive health and protection services and solutions they propose.
According to a statement issued here on Sunday, she also met with midwives, psychologists and social mobilizes who are attending deliveries, providing psycho-social support and referrals to GBV survivors and at-risk groups, and raising awareness among communities about the available services. Ms. Arakaki appreciated their commitment to serve the women and girls in need in the remote areas.
BHU Phandu, which functions 24/7, is one of the eight government health facilities in KP province, where UNFPA, with support of its partner Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP), is providing comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (CEmONC) services and psychosocial support, multi sectoral referrals and community mobilization services in refugee hosting communities. The BHU receives around 1,600 out patients every month and one delivery is attended every day on average. Psychologists conduct counseling sessions with 15 to 20 women every month on average.
Shoko Arakaki, Director of UNFPA’s Humanitarian Office in Geneva is visiting Pakistan to view UNFPA’s humanitarian interventions, especially for Afghan refugees, around reproductive health and responses to gender-based violence (GBV).
She also met with representatives of UNFPA partner organizations including Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Department of Health (DoH), Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) and Prime Foundation to discuss the progress on existing interventions and explore ways of scaling up the partnerships around ensuring reproductive health, rights and prevention and response to gender-based violence is integrated into preparedness and response to emergencies in the province.
“We must be accountable for women and girls who suffer most during disasters and emergencies. Rights and health of women and girls are at the heart of UNFPA’s work. We will only be able to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 if we continue to work in partnerships through innovative and multi-sectoral approaches.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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