MANILA, Philippines—The United Nations Children’s Fund has allocated $85.5 million (about P3.76 billion) for its child welfare programs in the Philippines in the next five years, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
In a statement, the DFA on Tuesday said the Unicef executive board had approved the budget for the Philippines’ “seventh country program of cooperation,” or CPC7 for the period 2012 to 2016.
About $15.5 million of the funds will come from Unicef while the remaining $70 million will be taken from other UN agencies, said the foreign office.
In the UN system, Unicef is the primary advocate of the rights and welfare of children worldwide.
Unicef’s CPC7 program aims to “improve the well-being of children in the country by enhancing partnerships to further strengthen the Philippine government’s capacity to reach its child-related Millennium Development Goals on eradicating poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, reducing child mortality, and improving maternal health,” the DFA noted.
Developed by Unicef in close coordination with the National Economic Development Authority, the CPC7 is “aligned with the Philippine Development Plan.”
“Program implementation will proceed in conformity with the UN Development Assistance Framework, the strategic program framework for the UN Country Team and the PDP,” said the DFA.
Meanwhile, Unicef’s country representative Vanessa Tobin made a farewell call on Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario last November 23.
During the meeting, they discussed the “strong partnership between the Philippines and Unicef,” according to DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez.
“Under Ms Tobin’s almost three years of stewardship of the Unicef office in Manila, the agency worked for the benefit of Filipino children,” Hernandez also said.
The DFA also cited Tobin for being “instrumental in implementing programs on children-friendly environment, as well as Unicef’s plan of action for children caught in armed conflicts.”
“During her watch, Unicef also provided nearly P7 million in food and non-food aid to victims of Typhoon “Ondoy” in 2009,” it added.
In October, Unicef delivered some 3,000 hygiene and water kits to typhoon-stricken families in Bulacan and Pampanga through local government units and the Central Luzon office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Tobin, along with an emergency team, visited the flooded areas to assess the condition of children and their families.
She was quoted by the Inquirer as having said “supplies are getting through, but we need to be vigilant to monitor childhood diseases, as well as getting schools reopened and getting children back to learning.”
“Large areas of stagnant water are a danger in many ways. Risks of dengue, diarrhea and other infectious diseases are a big threat to young children,” Tobin added.