Sri Lanka: Australia supports healthcare for displaced women

16 June 2009
Daily News, Sri Lanka

The Australian Government will donate US$383,400 to support efforts by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, to meet the health needs of thousands of women displaced by the conflict in northern parts of the island nation.

About 75,000 of the 280,000 recently displaced people living in camps in the area are women and girls of reproductive age who need basic hygiene support and reproductive healthcare; an estimated 6,000 are pregnant and in urgent need of services including potentially lifesaving obstetric care.

The funding will enable UNPFA to work with government health authorities to set up family health clinics in each of the five zones of the Menik Farm camp, which accommodates the largest number of displaced people. These clinics will exclusively serve women, providing antenatal and postnatal exams, emergency deliveries by skilled birth attendants and psychosocial counselling, among other services.

"This generous contribution from the Government of Australia will be critical in safeguarding the reproductive health and personal hygiene of women in these camps," UNFPA Representative in Sri Lanka Lene K. Christiansen said.