UNICEF

Health workers demonstrate proper handwashing to a child at the Bayat Community Health Centre in Klaten, Central Java.

At the onset of the crisis, staff at the health centre struggled to maintain services without clear safety guidance. With support from UNICEF, they developed a list of standard operating procedures for delivering care to help ensure women and children continue to have access to essential health services, including immunisation and nutrition counselling.

A child is weighed at a posyandu (community-level health post) in Sidorejo village, Central Java, on 02 July 2020.

The pandemic has placed significant strain on the Indonesian health system as workers and resources are diverted to support the response. Fear of contracting the virus and physical distancing are also leading some parents to defer routine immunisation and other critical health interventions. In response, UNICEF is supporting authorities in Central Java, the third most populous province on the island of Java, to ensure women and children continue to have access to essential health, nutrition and immunisation services as well as key information on COVID-19.

Millah, 12, a girl with an intellectual disability, receives a video call from her teacher Mintarsih while studying at home in Ungaran, Central Java. Millah is a student at Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Keji (MI Keji) in Ungaran and dreams of becoming a doctor.

Millah’s school was closed in early March when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. To support the education of children with disabilities during the pandemic, UNICEF is working with partners to assess emerging needs, particularly in regard to their learning and mental health, and to develop online and offline learning materials that are accessible and disability friendly

Ais, 7, has been living in an orphanage in Jakarta since 2016 and attends a nearby elementary school. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the orphanage has implemented new rules for the children to stay and study within the premises.

Ais learned how to wash her hands correctly with the help of a song she memorised from school. To help children like Ais meet their basic needs, UNICEF delivered sanitation and personal hygiene kits to over 1,700 childcare centres all over Indonesia.

Nutritionist Dessy Sandra Dewi provides nutrition counselling to Iksan Driyana for her one-year old son Hasyim during a home visit in Paseban Village in Klaten, Central Java.

At the onset of the crisis, staff at the Bayat community health centre in Central Java struggled to maintain services without clear safety guidance. Movement restrictions also complicated Dessy’s work, reducing her interactions with patients and often requiring her to travel to their homes to treat more severe cases of malnutrition.

With support from UNICEF, Dessy and her team developed a list of standard operating procedures for delivering care, helping to maintain critical nutrition services for mothers and their children in Klaten.