Meeting the moment, to leave no one behind

The COVID-19 pandemic swept through Asia and the Pacific bringing with it lockdowns, movement restrictions and curfews and disrupting essential sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender-based violence services. In this new landscape, UNFPA had to strengthen advocacy, boost innovation, adapt service modalities and leverage the power of technology to ensure continuity of essential services while at the same time protecting frontline health workers.

DFAT enabled the investment to quickly implement COVID-19 response activities to ensure continued and improved access to sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender-based violence services across the region in six priority countries, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and in the Pacific.

Highlights include:

• 133,072 people utilized integrated sexual and reproductive health services during the project implementation period across the project countries

• 248 service delivery points provided comprehensive gender-based violence service provision and referral mechanisms, including for mental health and psychosocial support across project countries

• 13,953 health care providers were provided with personal protective equipment across project countries

• 54 communications and advocacy materials on sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender-based violence were made available in local languages across project countries