TEHRAN – The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has provided self-protective equipment and sanitary items to the children without effective caregivers residing in settlements across the country.

The items included 421 pulse oximeters, 293 digital gun thermometers, 76,500 latex gloves, 4,000 N95 masks, 2,354 boxes of diapers, and 6,640 liters of surface sanitizers.

In response to the request of the State Welfare Organization (SWO) and the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare (MCLSW) to focus on preventing the spread of the virus as a first priority during the COVID-19 outbreak, UNICEF has procured these items through its central Supply Hub in Copenhagen, which was distributed among SWO rehabilitation centers and nurseries, benefiting children with disabilities and children without caregivers in 31 provinces.

These items were procured with funds from the government of Japan, UNICEF’s Global Humanitarian Thematic Fund (GHTF), and the Korean Committee for UNICEF.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the already-existing vulnerabilities of families and communities are expected to increase with a double impact on children. The director of a nursery for children without caregivers in an eastern province of Iran says that, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of new children admitted to the nursery has increased due to heightened tension and new harms emerging in at-risk families.

“With UNICEF-procured health and protective items, we now feel more secure about preserving the health of our children, both mentally and physically, during the COVID-19 outbreak,” says the nursery director, adding that the nurses of the center routinely check the warehouse to ensure there are enough sanitizing items, during the time of the pandemic.

There are groups of children who require extra care and support during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, such as children living with disabilities who have been dealing with the challenges of moving around in society even before the pandemic.

Apart from the above-mentioned procured items, UNICEF is also providing parenting packages and capacity-building programs for social workers to improve the quality of service provision to vulnerable children.

FB/MG