The European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUFT) approved €7 million in funding toward the UNICEF proposal titled ‘Resilience Building Programme for Vulnerable Children in Libya, Including Host Communities, Migrant and Refugee Children.’
The total estimated costs for the Programme are €19,912,219. Phase I is estimated at €12,912,219 and Phase II estimated at €7,000,000.
UNICEF’s Special Representative in Libya Abdulkadir Musse said, “The contribution from the European Union is very welcomed, especially as it comes at a time when hundreds of internally displaced, migrant and refugee children are living in Libya and going through dangers and perils. The partnership with the EU builds on UNICEF’s mission to protect the rights of children wherever they are. Despite the complex and fragile context in Libya, we will continue to work toward finding sustainable solutions to improve the availability and quality of basic services available to all children and their families in Libya.”
The overall objective of UNICEF’s programme is to “ensure that the most vulnerable children in the targeted locations have access to qualitative, inclusive, and improved child protection and education services.” The vulnerable children include migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees, unaccompanied and separated children, children with disabilities, victims of violence and gender-based violence and marginalised children from host communities.
According to UNICEF, special attention will be paid to gender parity, and all necessary measures will be put in place to ensure the ratio between boys and girls who benefit from the programme activities remains at approximately 50%.
The programme will support the national and subnational authorities in implementing the Child Rights Convention, which was ratified by Libya in 1993.
The programme aims to strengthen institutions responsible for providing inclusive and sustainable basic social services to all children in Libya. This would be through the Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, National Centre for Disease Control, and Higher Commissioner for Children.
A flexible and responsive approach to the specific needs of the beneficiaries will be used throughout the programme’s duration. This is to address unpredictable changes, including the current COVID-19 pandemic.