Fiji: Australian Foreign Minister highlights 'essential' reproductive health needs of women and girls in disaster relief efforts

Suva, Fiji – Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop underscored the importance of meeting the reproductive health needs of women and girls in Fiji's Cyclone relief efforts today, as the Pacific Island nation works to recover from the devastation wrought by Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston.

Speaking at the Rakiraki hospital, as key health supplies funded by Australia were handed over for hard-hit communities, she described UNFPA's dignity kits – packs designed to help women and girls meet vital hygiene and security needs in emergencies - and clean delivery kits - for clean and safe births in crises - as “absolutely essential…and life-saving too.”

The Government of Australia recently provided a further AU$400,000 to support the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, response to Cyclone Winston, by addressing the protection needs of women and girls through sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence services.

UNFPA has since procured another 4,400 dignity kits, which include sanitary pads, undergarments shirts, a torch and other items for protection, for distribution to women and girls primarily through the Ministry of Health,

The Fund has also procured 12 types of emergency reproductive health kits, which mainly consist of equipment and supplies to ensure damaged health facilities can swiftly resume the provision of life-saving reproductive health services.

“It is much appreciated,” said Bishop, after a briefing by Laurent Zessler, Director of UNFPA's sub-regional office in the Pacific on the Fund's relief efforts.

Of the 350,000 people directly affected by Cyclone Winston, 170,000 are female, including 87,500 women of reproductive age. It is estimated that there are more than 5,600 pregnant women, with around 800 of them expected to experience obstetric complications that require emergency obstetric care.

“The needs of everyone including women and girls must be addressed together,” said UNFPA's Zessler. “UNFPA continues to work closely with government ministries to ensure our approach and contribution are informed, targeted and therefore more effective.”

Australia, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), has long supported UNFPA's humanitarian response in emergencies, including during Nepal earthquake April 2015.