The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today stressed the need to ensure women refugees and migrants moving across Europe have access to life-saving sexual and reproductive healthcare, as it appealed for $4.2 million for humanitarian assistance.
"Thousands
of women and girls, some of them pregnant, are on the move along the transit
routes in the Balkans, often without access to basic hygiene and health
services and with little protection from violence. As most of the women and
girls are constantly moving, and often not registered, we need a swift, mobile
and highly flexible response to meet their needs," said UNFPA Executive
Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin.
According
to a news release issued by UNFPA, about 13 per cent of refugees and migrants
entering Europe are women. If the crisis worsens, the agency has projected an
estimate of 70,000 women to be moving along the Balkans route over the next six
months. Of these women, 4,200 are likely to be pregnant and about 1,400 are at
risk of sexual violence.
"We
must ensure that women and girls can make their journey safely, and that they
get the services they need to stay healthy along the way. These investments
help save lives now, and many of them also help build sustainable capacities
that the host populations will continue to benefit from in the future,"
added Dr. Osotimehin.
UNFPA
plans to distribute 70,000 dignity kits over the next six months to serve the
projected amount of women travelling through the area. The kit would include
basic hygiene and healthcare items that can help women and girls to preserve
their dignity on the move. Mobile clinics will be set up at strategic points,
staffed with gynaecologists and nurses along with materials for safe-deliveries
and prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.
UNFPA
will also boost the capacity of governments and civil society groups in the
affected countries to provide quality health services for women and to prevent
and manage sexual and gender-based violence. allafrica
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