Capitalizing on Emergency to Improve Child Welfare The transition from long term, sustainable, development work in line with a stable government to a rapid-response emergency operation in a politically fluid environment has been challenging. But the result is a quantifiable increase in aid and humanitarian expertise in the country that allows UNICEF and its humanitarian partners to address the needs of the “whole child.”
A cluster is a “sectoral coordination group” of humanitarian actors. It brings actors together under the leadership of an agency or organisation designated as cluster lead. The aim of a cluster is to coordinate the actions of sector actors in order to more effectively and efficiently respond to needs.
This comprehensive response includes, among other interventions: delivering supplies to health centres; training village health agents in nutrition care; strengthening and supporting government social services; and educating community leaders on a wide range of risks to children – from unexploded ordnances that litter the north, to the practice of child marriage and female circumcision that is accepted widely throughout the south. It is a multi-dimensional approach that aims to advance long-term development goals even as it meets immediate emergency humanitarian needs. Since March 2012, UNICEF is leading the coordinated response to emergency interventions in the sectors of education, nutrition, water, hygiene and sanitation in Mali and has also a leadership role in the sub-cluster on Child Protection. Results of these programmes are closely analysed according to a newly developed Humanitarian Performance Monitoring System, which sets targets of achievement in accordance with each of the Core Commitments for Children. Currently, UNICEF Mali tracks achievements against 30 core commitments in the areas of Health, Nutrition, Water Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH), Education and Child Protection, employing Third-Party Monitors to ensure accountability. Through strengthened partnerships, sustainable integrated interventions, a strong supply chain and long-term planning, UNICEF Mali is responding to a crisis that is far from over; as the food insecurity eases, political insecurity worsens. There can be no socio-economic improvement for a population that does not have faith in a lasting peace. The coming year offers an opportunity for Malians to take advantage of the humanitarian expertise in-country. This scaled-up presence and technical support needs the participation of both government and civil society to ensure that the children of Mali are protected from the fallout of socio-economic and political upheaval. “The first-responders in any crisis are the Malians themselves,” says Emergency Coordinator Carole Vignaud. “We need to ensure that we are able to give them support and training that they need to not only respond to an emergency but to continue practices to protect children for the long term.”
UNICEF Mali: Supporting Women and Children Through an Emergency | 9