MONROVIA, 27 July 2022 – Over 165,000 people, including some 70,000 children from 0-12 years, benefitted from Japan’s support to the Government of Liberia to strengthen the delivery of routine health services and the management of COVID-19 pandemic in partnership with UNICEF. The programme strengthened the cold chain system in the country through equipping 170 health facilities with COVID-19 vaccination requirements, such as solar refrigerators, cold boxes, and vaccine carriers to serve over 500,000 people in the 15 counties of Liberia. In 2021, together with the Ministry of Health and UNICEF, the Government of Japan launched two programmes to support the Government in strengthening delivery of routine health services in health facilities and communities during COVID-19 and improving cold chain management with a total funding of US$2.5 million. “Japan has always been with the people of Liberia, and we’ll continue to provide the needed support to fight the COVID Pandemic,” said H. E Ambassador Mochizuki Hisanobu, Japanese Ambassador to Ghana. “This is a closing ceremony, but I hope this will not end the partnership to keep the people of Liberia safe from the pandemic. All these are in our efforts to provide support in developing Liberia’s Health facilities and to ensure enfants enjoy public health services and that each and every other person is not left out.” The supplies procured under the strengthening delivery of routine health services programme included essential medicines, oxygen therapeutics, and ready to use therapeutic food which reached over 167,000 beneficiaries through the 19 health facilities across the catchment areas. Of the 167,487 beneficiaries, including 52,774 girls and boys under 5 years of age, 13,960 pregnant women, and birth registration for 6,919 girls and boys. “This particular project has provided the surest ways and awareness for our children to be brought to the health facilities to be vaccinated and our pregnant women can attend antenatal care and I thank UNICEF and the Government of Japan for their partnership in strengthening Routine services, said Hon. Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah, Minister of Health in Liberia. “This has also brought a lot of institutional building capacities to our health workers that are working in these facilities.” The cold chain improvement programme strengthened the Government’s capacity to manage COVID-19 pandemic in the context of achieving Universal Health Coverage in the country. This included the procurement of cold chain equipment and building institutional capacities to manage the equipment for smooth introduction of COVID-19 vaccines, in line with Japan’s “Last One Mile Support” for delivering vaccines to the final destination. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on families and children all over the world, including in Liberia, UNICEF has scaled up its support to governments to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are delivered effectively and available to the most vulnerable populations,” said Laila O. Gad, UNICEF Representative in Liberia. “The support we received from the Government of Japan was a critical contribution to our cooperation with the Government of Liberia in responding to COVID-19 and strengthening the delivery of essential health services during the pandemic.” UNICEF thanks the Government of Japan for its contribution to UNICEF’s efforts to support the children in Liberia and to continue its work with the Government to ensure health systems in the country are well equipped, and health workers are technically trained to respond appropriately to the threats of COVID-19.

• Increased health system capacity in 19 health facilities in Montserrado and Margibi to provide the continuum of basic integrated preventative and curative services (health, nutrition, WASH and birth registration services) for 11,600 pregnant women and 43,000 under 5 children (21,070 girls and 21,930 boys).

• Solar refrigerators were procured for 170 health facilities out of which 125 installations are completed and functional. The procurement of the additional 45 solar refrigerators is in process and will be installed at the 45 health facilities identified based on the operational deployment plan.

• A total of 12 cold chain technicians and 23 Cold Chain Officers received training on installation as well as preventative and corrective maintenance of solar refrigerators were achieved as per the target.

• A total of 250 health care workers received on-site training on basic vaccine management activities, preventive maintenance of CCE and use of cold chain equipment for transportation of vaccines.

• One 40kVA generator was procured and installed at the Bong Regional vaccine store which supplies vaccines and related accessories to Bong, Lofa and Nimba counties.

• A total of 120 health workers (105 female, 15 male) received training on essential health and nutrition services. Out of which 60 (57 female, 3 male) were midwives were trained on Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) and another 60 (48 female, 12 male) nurses and physician assistants trained on Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illness (IMNCI).

UNICEF has been working in Liberia for close to 30 years, turning our vision for children into practical action. With our child-focused mandate, country presence and operational capacity, we support the Government of Liberia and other partners to help every child reach their full potential. Visit our website for more information about the work of UNICEF in Liberia. Follow UNICEF on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

For more information, please contact: Mostafa Omar, UNICEF Liberia, +231 (0) 770 267 110, mosomar@unicef.org