UNFPA Delivers Essential Supplies to People Affected by Violence in Kyrgyzstan

NEW YORK — Some 300,000 persons have been displaced within Kyrgyzstan while as many as 100,000 took refuge in Uzbekistan and are now returning home, where the situation remains uncertain.

An emerging concern among humanitarian partners is the lack of basic reproductive health care for pregnant women and their newborns who have been affected by the emergency. About 60 per cent of the refugees are women and 35 per cent are children, according to UN reports. More than 650 pregnant women have received outpatient care in refugee camps in Uzbekistan, with another 125 receiving care in health facilities, according to the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan.

Reports of gender-based violence are another area of concern: more than 40 cases of sexual violence have been reported to Crisis Centre partners in the city of Osh, though actual numbers are believed to be much higher.

Assessing the situation

As part of the coordinated of the United Nations to the ongoing crisis, UNFPA participated in an inter-agency assessment team that visited refugee camps in the Andijan province of Uzbekistan. Ms. Fezula Fazilova, UNFPA National Project Officer in Uzbekistan, described the mission. "I visited two refugee camps to examine the degree to which the minimum service package for reproductive health is being implemented in response to the crisis and learned of the reproductive health-related challenges there," she said. "It was good to see that the refugees, the majority of whom are women and girls, have sufficient access to basic health care facilities and services." She noted, however, that the still-unfolding crisis suggests that the overwhelmed local health system will not be able to cope with the continuously growing demands on its own. "In addition to reproductive health concerns, we noticed a great need for psycho-social rehabilitation, and a lot of work needs to be done by UNFPA to help refugees in such stressful conditions," she added.

UNFPA responds

To date the UNFPA Country Office in Kyrgyzstan has delivered essential supplies to emergency-affected populations in Kyrgyzstan, including medicine, hygiene packages, detergents and clothing for adults and babies. It has also provided pre-packaged reproductive health kits to supply the needs of about 300,000 persons for a three-month period. They include clean delivery kits to prevent infections during emergency deliveries; supplies to help health centres manage complications associated with delivery and sexually transmitted infections and much-needed equipment and drugs for district hospitals.

In Uzbekistan, UNFPA has procured 3,500 women's 'dignity kits,' which include personal hygiene items for about 10,000 women and girls. Reproductive health supplies for communities, health centres and district hospitals for refugees are expected to arrive in that country later this week. For more information please contact:

Omar Gharzeddine
Tel: +1 212 297 5028
gharzeddine@unfpa.org

Raquel Wexler
Tel: +1 212 297 5073
wexler@unfpa.org