Building Emergency Preparedness

UNFPA has launched a short-term emergency preparedness project for the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan . The project is targeting Osh , Jalal-Abad and Batken regions. It focuses on building the capacity of national stakeholders to respond to the needs of women of reproductive age during emergencies.

Situation analysis - An unstable region

Kyrgyzstan is prone to a wide range of natural disasters. Landslides, mudslides as well as floods are major hazards with 200-300 events every year. Seismic activity is frequent, with over 3300 earthquakes registered annually. Seasonal events affect almost all the national territory but are most recurrent and severe in the South of the country.

Besides the natural disasters, unstable uranium tailings in high risk and fragile geological areas pose a serious risk. The destabilizing of the tailings due to the mudflows or landslides can cause severe environmental catastrophes for the whole Ferghana Valley affecting Kyrgyzstan , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. In times of emergency, r eproductive health services - including prenatal care, assisted delivery, and emergency obstetric care - often become unavailable. Young people become more vulnerable to HIV infection and sexual exploitation. And many women lose access to family planning services, exposing them to unwanted pregnancy in perilous conditions.

Key indicators on Emergency

On the ground, UNFPA is...

... performing a mapping exercise of reproductive healthcare services particularly at risk

... pre-positioning hygiene and reproductive health kits, including safe delivery kits

... sensitizing and training key counterparts on good practices in emergency situations

... funding local NGOs for publishing informational materials on emergency preparedness

In Focus: Supplies for safer childbirth

In situations of conflict and natural disaster, UNFPA sends emergency reproductive health equipment and supplies that help make childbirth safer:

• Supplies for clean home deliveries include soap, plastic sheeting, razor blades, string, gloves and pictorial instruction sheets.
• Equipment and supplies for assisted deliveries at a health facility also include stethoscopes, thermometers, plastic aprons, latex gloves, syringes, sutures, sterile gauze pads, an IV infusion set, cotton wool, burn boxes for safe needle disposal, amoxicilline and other drugs.
• Equipment and supplies are also provided for suturing tears, resuscitation, disinfection and surgery.

UNFPA Kyrgyzstan works with the Ministry of Health in order to determine which supplies are mostneeded in case of emergency. This equipment is pre-positioned in all risk areas.

Total buget: USD 111'000

If you want to know more about UNFPA action in assisting in emergencies globally, check our global website.