UNFPA Pacific is supporting Vanuatu’s COVID-19 response by working closely with the Government and civil society partners to deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance which includes the distribution of essential interagency reproductive health and hygiene kits to affected women and girls. 

On 04 March 2022, an active COVID-19 case was confirmed at Vila Central Hospital who had no travel history, indicating transmission at the community level. On 07 March 2022, Efate and Offshore Islands moved to Alert Level 3: Very High, due to large-scale community transmission. All provinces of Vanuatu are on Alert Level 3 given reports of cases or movement of contacts of cases in the six provinces of Vanuatu.

A total of 1,704 confirmed cases have been reported since the beginning of 2022. 283 new confirmed cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, including 274 on Efate Island (Shefa province) and 9 on Santo Island (Sanma province). There are currently 4 people hospitalized of whom 2 are in critical condition. 

When humanitarian emergencies strike, UNFPA ensures that the reproductive health needs and protection concerns of women and girls are integrated into national humanitarian responses. One of the ways in which UNFPA supports women and girls in the aftermath of natural disasters is by providing Dignity kits and life-saving Reproductive Health (RH) supplies as contained in the Inter-Agency RH Kits.  

More than 1000 Dignity Kits and Inter-Agency Reproductive Health Kits are being donated to the Government of Vanuatu to support the humanitarian response efforts to address the unique health and hygiene needs of women and girls in the aftermath of the increase of COVID-19 in Vanuatu. 

Under the Regional Prepositioning Initiative funded by the Government of Australia, UNFPA Pacific strategically prepositions lifesaving supplies in disaster-prone countries and regional hubs in Asia and the Pacific. UNFPA is deeply grateful to  DFAT Canberra for its generous contribution. This has helped UNFPA Pacific respond faster, better, and more efficiently to humanitarian crises across the region.

 The donation will benefit more than 2000  women and girls in the COVID-19 affected area in Vanuatu.