UNICEF Landprogramstöd DRK 2022-2025

1. Every child, including adolescents, survives and thrives with access to nutritious diets, quality primary health care, nurturing practices and essential supplies Key results from 2024 include UNICEFs immunization and vaccination efforts: Between January and October 2024, UNICEF DRC achieved a 99% coverage rate for the DTP3 vaccine target, reaching close to 3.7 million children. Measles vaccination coverage was similarly high with 3.66 million children vaccinated (98% target reach). Additionally, UNICEF succeeded in reaching 81,000 zero-dose children. During DRCs mpox outbreak in December 2024 (with 61,173 suspected cases, equivalent of 67% of Africas cases), UNICEFs multi-sectoral response vaccinated over 45,000 adults. 5.1 million people also benefitted indirectly from UNICEFs engagement with community health workers and supply delivery. Moreover, UNICEF made significant contributions through the Big Catch-up Plan and the Full Portfolio Planning facilitating the introduction and dissemination of new vaccines, such as Measles-Rubella and HPV vaccines. UNICEF also provided support to the national polio eradication efforts, achieving a 90% reduction in polio cases nationally. UNICEF also established key logistics hubs in Lubumbashi, Goma, Bunia, and Bukavu, effectively improving vaccine access in hard-to-reach areas and lowering transport costs. UNICEF also made significant achievements in the prevention of stunting, reaching 19 million children with Vitamin A supplementation (86% of the targeted population) and treating 428 000 children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), exhibiting a recovery rate of 97.3% across 15 out of 26 provinces. UNICEF also integrated nutrition within the Mpox-response, providing 3 meals per day for nearly 5000 patients and treating 283 SAM children. A successful example of UNICEFs integrated nexus approach on social protection and nutrition can further be seen in their use of the cash-modality in Tanganyika resulting in a 27% improvement in minimum diet diversity of children aged 6-23 months (44% pre-intervention to 71% post-intervention). UNICEF advocacy efforts further contributed to the revitalization of the multisectoral nutrition committee (CNMN), with its first meeting convened by the Prime Minister in December 2024. 2. Every child, including adolescents, learns and acquire skills for the future UNICEF further exhibited substantial progress in their efforts on equitable and sustainable access to education, namely through their support the governments education policy implementation, community mobilization, teacher capacity building. As a result, 374 classrooms were constructed with 4,750 children and adolescents gaining access to education opportunities in 2024. Additionally, 352 school management committees were trained in school governance and effectiveness alongside 1,841 teachers trained in curricular reform. Notably, while the UNICEF annual report highlights girls inclusion and a general positive progress in gender disparity, boys continue to make up a slight majority of UNICEFs beneficiaries. Nonetheless, Sida takes positive note of the reports gender-disaggregated data, with 311,503 children (153.999 G / 157,504 B) receiving learning materials enhancing learning outcomes and literacy. The report also reflects UNICEFs double-mandated approach through their provision of education in emergencies, reaching 183,133 children (89,727 G / 93,406 B) with critical support in humanitarian crises ensuring continued access to education and related services even in the most challenging conditions. 3. Every child, including adolescents, is protected from violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect and other harmful practices In terms of child protection, UNICEF DRC directly assisted a record one million vulnerable children through birth registration, justice for children, quality protection services and multisectoral programs. Protection services specifically reached 343,251 children through community-based para-social workers and extended social contracts, providing critical support for victims of violence. Moreover, civil registration targets were exceeded by 165%, reaching 2,343,112 children in 2024. UNICEF also organized the first national conference on violence against children in the DRC and developed a national strategy to combat sexual harassment and exploitation in schools supported by the Presidents Cabinet. UNICEF also developed the platform Lahaa offering reproductive health information and gender-based violence (GBV) services, expanding access to crucial support. UNICEF further expanded GBV prevention, mitigation, and response services in humanitarian situations, providing essential survivor support. Over 68,000 individuals (70% women) received cash-based assistance, while 2,500 at-risk women and girls were provided with resilience cash transfers, helping to reduce vulnerabilities and address basic needs. 4. Every child, including adolescents, has access to safe and equitable water, sanitation and?hygiene services, and lives in a safe and sustainable climate and environment UNICEF worked closely with the World Bank to support the government's ODF roadmap, ensuring the scaling up of efforts and conducting performance assessments. Unicef specifically expanded its WASH-program in Tanganyika, with a specific nexus-component integrating peacebuilding alongside sanitation interventions addressing the issue of open defecation (OD). While the program directly supported 557,358 people in 491 new ODF-certified communities, this result only amounts to 48% of the 2024 target. On the other hand, UNICEF provided access to basic sanitation services for 416,004 people, marking a key milestone in improving public health and reducing sanitation-related diseases by surpassing the annual national goal by 3%. 5. Example of result with a Humanitarian Development Peace Nexus peace Approach Thematically, UNICEF DRC continued as a key actor within the triple nexus approach, including through the Joint Resilience and Nexus Programmes consortium with WFP and FAO, through which UNICEF was able to support building resilience, strengthen and reinforce basic social systems and services in the targeted territories in North Kivu and South Kivu. Through the JRP the socio-economic resilience of 60,000 smallholder farmers and vulnerable households in the two provinces (28,000 in North Kivu and 32,000 in South Kivu) were strengthened. The program also had a strong social cohesion component that included peace education, the development of community action plans, the provision of training and income generating opportunities for diverse community groups, and sporting and cultural events. Further, UNICEF leveraged resources from other resilience and nexus partners to reinforce collaborative forms of programming and coordination in key priority areas (Grand Kasai, Tanganyika, Sud Kivu) in 2024. Another example of UNICEF's nexus approach linking humanitarian and development efforts include the Cash Nutrition program for 2024 in Tanganyika, in which UNICEF assisted 60,000 beneficiaries, combining malnutrition prevention and treatment to strengthen household resilience. Rapid cash transfers were piloted for 1,367 households through mobile money in the same region. The Cash initiative for gender-based violence (GBV) prevention marked a milestone in December 2024, supporting 34,863 individuals in South Kivu. This approach, in partnership with WFP, reduced risks associated with unmet needs while linking beneficiaries to specialized GBV response services. Increased violence restricted humanitarian access, particularly in North Kivu and Ituri, causing interruptions in interventions. Despite these challenges, UNICEF maintained its leadership role in WASH, nutrition, and education clusters at various levels, ensuring a strategic and coordinated response. In 2024, UNICEF collaborated with WFP and IFRC and International NGO to deliver food assistance, coordinating 52% of rapid response mechanisms in humanitarian crises.

The objectives of this intervention are to support the UNICEF 2020-2024 Country Program and ultimately the delivery of the UNICEF Strategic Plan 20222025. The goal of the CPD is for children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially in the most deprived provinces and humanitarian settings, to have equitable, quality and sustainable access to basic social services. The Unicef Strategic Plan 2022-2025 highlights 5 result areas of which the CPD aligns to: - Every child, including adolescents, survives and thrives, with access to nutritious diets, quality primary health care, nurturing practices and essential supplies - Every child, including adolescents, learns and acquires skills for the future - Every child, including adolescents, is protected from violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect and harmful practices - Every child, including adolescents, has access to safe and equitable water, sanitation and hygiene services, and lives in a safe and sustainable climate and environment - Every child has an equitable chance in life At the end of the Country Programme Unicef is expected to have contributed to addressing some of the system-wide bottlenecks to social services in the DRC by investing in the following areas: Health The overall objective is to support government on health system strengthening in areas of maternal, adolescent and child health. This includes working on routine immunization, RMNCAH (including HIV prevention and treatment), integrated management of childhood illnesses, epidemic surveillance, preparedness and response, as well as to support positive health policy development centrally and provincial level. Child Protection This intervention will contribute to promote governance for child protection and strengthening protective environment from all forms of violence in the country. The child protection work is based on promoting access to basic social services but with fair judicial protection from birth. Unicef has since 2013 worked on the reintegration of children associated with armed forces and groups, but also on the issue of civil/birth registration of children. Other areas include advocating and working towards scaling up childrens courts and alternatives to detention, working on SGBV and child marriage. Nutrition UNICEF nutrition program supports the new national nutrition program and focuses on capacity building of community and health systems to scale up multisectoral nutrition interventions such as SAM treatment, community surveillance for early detection of SAM cases, working on social norms on food and feeding practices, provide joint WASH and nutrition interventions, among others. WASH UNICEF has a well established WASH programme that works with government to improve water safety and sanitation in rural and urban areas. The program aims to increase knowledge, increase uptake of WASH services, build on their preparedness and capacity to respond to waterborne diseases, provide WASH in health facilities, while continuing to advocate for political commitment and multi-sectoral coordination of WASH. Lastly the Program will undertake an energy and climate analysis, with pilot interventions selected areas affected by climate change. Education UNICEF education program is building institutional capacity to improve the Education Management Information System. At policy level they are supporting Government on the implementation of the pre-primary education policy and advocating for school fee abolishment. Several social issues are also included in their education program such as interventions focusing on early child marriage (linked to their child protection work), reaching out of school children with education, addressing GBV and promote good hygiene practices. Social inclusion and Resilience: This intervention primarily focuses on enabling access to child-sensitive and shock responsive social protection for the most deprived children and adolescents. The social inclusion and resilience program works in collaboration with several actors such as UNDP, WFP and IOM to address socio-economic vulnerabilities. The program is also well aligned with the Humanitarian Response Plan. Besides the result areas of WASH and Education, the CPD is very much in line with the priorities outlined in the Swedish Development Cooperation Strategy for DRC 2021-2025, specifically related to result areas 2 - Health equity, 3 Peaceful and inclusive societies, 4 - Environment, climate and sustainable use of natural resources.