(Togo First) - Lomé hosted last Friday a meeting between Togolese authorities and a UNICEF delegation. The meeting was co-chaired by Sandra Ablamba Johnson, Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, and Aissata Ba Sidibé, UNICEF Resident Representative. The various sides reviewed their cooperation.
The participants discussed UNICEF's key initiatives in Togo across various sectors. In health, for example, they found that Togo maintained a Penta 3 vaccine coverage rate above 90%, despite challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nous avons tenu le vendredi 09 Août 2024, une séance fondamentale avec l'#UNICEF afin d’évaluer et renforcer notre coopération en matière de protection et promotion des #droits de l'#enfant au Togo.
— Sandra ABLAMBA JOHNSON (@SandraA_JOHNSON) August 11, 2024
Cette rencontre marque un tournant décisif dans notre engagement commun ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/X0kMT3Rz1w
In hygiene and sanitation, the West African country has made progress in reducing open defecation. Thanks to the "Togo SANDAL by 2030" initiative, supported by UNICEF, 624 ecological and biogas latrines were built in rural areas. This helped reduce open defecation by nearly 10 points.
Other UNICEF-backed projects to combat violence against children have also been implemented, with 3,730 teachers receiving training. Also, from 2018 to 2022, birth registration for children under 5 went from 79.2% to 86%, spurred by the Togo-UNICEF partnership.
The two partners recently launched a new cooperation program for 2024-2026, with a budget of 30 billion FCFA. The program will focus on five key areas: child survival, education and development, child protection, social policies, and program effectiveness.
Esaïe Edoh