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Joint DFID Press Release with UNICEF (New York)

14 March 2006

£75 million boost for India's children

New York, 13 March 2006 - International Development Minister, Gareth Thomas, today announced £75 million ($130 million) in funding for an expanded DFID and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Strategic Partnership for India, to accelerate progress to the Millennium Development Goals.

The new partnership will support UNICEF’s work in India focusing on some of the poorest states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, to improve delivery of primary healthcare and education. The partnership will complement the national and state governments’ increased commitment to transforming the lives of children with a focus on reaching the most socially excluded.

At a public signing in UNICEF House with UNICEF deputy executive director Toshiyuki Niwa, Gareth Thomas said:

“The funding will give a significant boost to health and education programmes for the most vulnerable and socially excluded Indian children.

“It will bring vital support to people who need it the most, and help lay down long term foundations to improve the quality of people’s lives today and over the next generation.

“Building on a key partnership with UNICEF, and as a complement to the UN reform process, this will help turn Government commitment into action on the ground. It will help us in our shared aim to reduce poverty by 2015 through the Millennium Development Goals.”

It will also give further opportunity for United Nations (UN) agencies to enhance co-ordination, efficiency and effectiveness at the country level by expanding common services, reducing collective costs and increasing knowledge sharing.

“This funding provides the means to form an even stronger partnership between UNICEF, the government of India and DFID to create breakthrough interventions to tackle malnutrition, child survival, education and HIV and AIDS”, said Mr. Niwa of UNICEF.

For example, UNICEF will accelerate interventions such as the Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illness (IMNCI) that aims to vastly improve child survival rates in India. Through a programme of home visits by trained professionals from the moment of birth, IMNCI will ensure babies are being given proper care and any problems are both identified and treated. Proven methods to reduce infant death rates include families being taught to keep babies "sweet" by exclusive breastfeeding, "dry" not giving baths and "warm" using the kangaroo method of holding babies directly against the mother or father.

With more than 1,000 children under 5 years old dying every day due to diarrhoeal disease water and sanitation is a major concern. The Indian Government’s Total Sanitation Campaign, aims to give every family access to water, toilets and handwashing facilities. UNICEF with partners has pioneered low cost toilets that are simple, affordable and appropriate and Rural Sanitary Markets as local access points for these services. Support from DFID will help expand this initiative.

Since the early 1990s India has lifted 12 million people out of poverty every year, and since 1999 DFID has spent £1.13 billion towards assistance. But with a sixth of the world population and increasing economic success, the nature of DFID’s relationship and the assistance it provides is changing in a way to reflect India’s standing as a self-reliant international player.

The announcement follows on from the successful Asia 2015 conference held in London last week (6-7 March) which brought together political leaders, private sector, senior officials, non-governmental organisations (NGO) representatives and academics from across Asia and focused on showcasing regional successes, sharing lessons and looking to the future.

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Notes to Editors

1. The strategic partnership will, in line with DFID’s current country assistance plan, aim to build on the good progress to increase the number of children attending school and also improve the quality of education. Access to effective and affordable healthcare services, especially for children, is a way to tackle both a long term symptom and cause of poverty. Find out more about DFID’s work in India.

2. The Government of India has been closely involved in shaping the Partnership, which is consistent with its overall programme goal of co-operation with UNICEF. The Government, UNICEF and DFID are all working towards the constitutionally guaranteed rights of all women and children, and the creation of an enabling environment to promote equality and strengthen accountability towards children.

3. UNICEF has been working in India since 1949. The largest UN organisation in the country, it is currently implementing a $500 million programme from 2003 -2007. The organisation uses quality research and data to understand issues, implements new and innovative interventions and works with Government to transform the lives of each and every child. Find out more aboutExternal linkUNICEF’s work in India.

4. Asia 2015 was a two-day conference hosted by DFID, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank on 6-7 March involving around 200 high-level delegates. It was an informal gathering of politicians, experts, private sector, civil society and development agencies to discuss development challenges facing Asia and to develop ideas on the best way forward over the next 10 years. The conference concentrated on three key areas:

Asian development experience leads the world, and the conference was an opportunity to highlight key aspects of that success relevant to other regions. The conference could also act to stimulate the wider process of economic growth and eradicating poverty. For more information about the conference and its conclusions, seeExternal linkwww.asia2015conference.org  

Background

For 60 years UNICEF has been the world’s leader for children, working on the ground in 155 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Each year, UNICEF’s flagship publication, The State of the World's Children, closely examines a key issue affecting children. The upcoming State of the World’s Children 2007 will argue that one of the most powerful constraints to realizing children’s rights and achieving the Millennium Development Goals is the discrimination experienced by women. By investigating the relationship between the situation of women and the well-being of children throughout the life-cycle, the Report will reveal that there is a form of double discrimination at work: societies that discriminate against women are also implicitly discriminating against children.

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