The Government of Japan is boosting life-saving reproductive health measures for women, girls, and youth by providing UNFPA with an additional USD 1.3 million in response to the worsening situation in Afghanistan, according to a UNFPA press release.
The additional cash will help maintain services at Helmand’s 29 Family Health Houses, improve the system for referring women and newborns in need of urgent treatment, and increase young people’s access to reproductive health and psychosocial support services and information.
The funding from Japan will also help with the distribution of Mama and Baby Kits, as well as medical equipment and supplies for new moms. Over a year, the new operations hope to assist roughly 500,000 Afghans.
The additional financing increases Japan’s overall contribution to the 2022 UNFPA Afghanistan Humanitarian Response to USD 2.2 million. The humanitarian response in Afghanistan needs USD 251 million to reach 9.28 million of the most vulnerable citizens there.
This year, Japan’s assistance has provided reproductive and maternal health services, psychosocial support, and delivery of Dignity Kits to more than 20,000 Afghans, the majority of whom are women and girls.
Additionally, Japan has contributed to the purchase of medical supplies and equipment for reproductive health, enough to serve at least 102,000 persons in the nation who require such services. In Herat, Nimroz, and Kandahar, the financing has funded services that are geared at women.
