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In January 2010, Mercy-USA Receives US Government Grant in Somalia
Worth Over $1.26 Million Dollars
On January 15, 2010, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development received a new $1,264,400 grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This funding is helping us to provide health, nutrition, fresh water and sanitation assistance to approximately 118,000 vulnerable persons in eight districts in south-central Somalia. Beneficiaries include 28,200 children under five, over 5,600 pregnant women and nursing mothers, as well as about 11,800 internally displaced persons.
This new grant will support seven Mother/Child Health Clinics. It will also support 9 feeding centers for moderately and severely malnourished children. Additionally, Mercy-USA is constructing 20 new water wells and rehabilitating 12 others, as well as constructing 54 sanitary latrines with hand-washing stations.
The seven Maternal and Child Health (MCH) centers are in the districts of Buloburte, Jalalaqsi and Beletweyne in the Hiraan Region and in the districts of Jowhar, Aadan Yaabale and Mahadaay in the Middle Shabelle Region. These MCH centers will primarily serve 5,640 pregnant and lactating women and 28,200 children under five years of age in these isolated communities. Medical services provided will include prevention and treatment of malaria, diarrhea and other infectious diseases, immunization, pre-natal and post-natal care, as well as health education. Health education activities will focus on training and promoting awareness of best practices at the household level to prevent common illnesses and infections.
The four Outpatient Therapeutic Feeding Program (OTP) centers and five Supplemental Feeding Program (SFP) centers are in the districts of Buloburte, Jalalaqsi and Beletweyne in the Hiraan Region and in the district of Jowhar in the Middle Shabelle Region. These OTP and SFP centers will primarily serve about 7,850 children and 4,720 pregnant women and nursing mothers in these isolated communities. The services provided will include emergency and therapeutic feeding for moderately and severely malnourished children, de-worming, provision of vitamins, immunization and nutrition education activities. To promote improved feeding practices, Mercy-USA will carry out food demonstration exercises to train mothers on the preparation of balanced meals using locally available food.
The 32 newly constructed and rehabilitated wells will provide safe drinking water to communities with a combined population of over 90,000 persons and their estimated 220,000 livestock in the district of Mahas in the Hiraan Region and in Dhusomareb and Guriel Districts in the Galgadud Region. Additionally, Mercy-USA will chlorinate these wells and other water sources and provide hygiene education to these communities and others in Hiraan and Middle Shabelle Regions (with a combined population of over 230,000). Communities will also be assisted to dig garbage disposal pits and arrange clean up campaigns in areas around the newly constructed or rehabilitated water points. Local water and sanitation committees will be formed to supervise all hygiene-related matters.
Somalia has one of the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world. One in eight children dies before reaching the age of five and 1,600 women die for every 100,000 live births.
Other social indicators for children are also among the worst in the world: one in three children is chronically malnourished, hardly a third of families have access to clean drinking water, just 30 per cent of children go to school and on average people only live to the age of 47, according to UNICEF.
In January 2010, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that approximately 240,000 children under five years of age are acutely malnourished, including 63,000 severely malnourished children who require immediate life-saving interventions.
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Under a previous $1.2 million USAID grant from September 2007 to September 2009, Mercy-USA provided household kits to 2,500 internally displaced families (over 15,000 persons), as well as health, nutrition, fresh water and sanitation assistance to over 193,000 vulnerable persons in eight districts in south-central Somalia. Beneficiaries included 36,000 children under five, over 5,600 pregnant women and nursing mothers, as well as over 22,800 internally displaced persons.
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