Project profile — Vitamin A Supplementation in a New Age (VINA)



Overview 

CA-3-P011992001
$34,000,000
UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund (41122)
2023-01-19 - 2025-12-31
Operational
Global Affairs Canada
YFMInternaAssistPartnershp&Programing Br

Country / region 

• Angola (5.50%)
• Burkina Faso (4.50%)
• Benin (6.00%)
• Congo, Democratic Republic (11.00%)
• Central African Republic (4.50%)
• Côte d'Ivoire (11.00%)
• Cameroon (4.50%)
• Guinea (7.00%)
• Madagascar (8.50%)
• Malawi (4.50%)
• Mozambique (9.00%)
• Sierra Leone (7.00%)
• South Sudan (5.50%)
• Chad (4.50%)
• Togolese Republic (7.00%)

Sector 

• Basic Health: Basic nutrition (12240) (100.00%)

Policy marker 

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Children's issues (significant objective)
• Nutrition (principal objective)

Description 

Periodic, high-dose vitamin A supplementation of children 6-59 months is a proven, low-cost intervention that has been shown to reduce all-cause mortality by 12 to 24 percent and is an essential programme supporting efforts to reduce child mortality. Global Affairs Canada-funded three-year Vitamin A Supplementation in a New Age (VINA) project (FY2023-2026) aims to reduce mortality in girls and boys under five years at high risk of vitamin A deficiency in fifteen countries across sub-Saharan Africa. Through this project, UNICEF will support more equitable, gender-responsive and efficient delivery of vitamin A supplementation (VAS) by working in partnership with country ministries of health. The VINA project will support increased government ownership and financial sustainability of vitamin A supplementation programs, strengthen delivery systems, and enhance women's and girls' empowerment. The project also addresses systematic gender barriers at a household level that impede access to health services. Overall, UNICEF estimates that this project will reach approximately 41 million children under five in 15 countries with vitamin A supplementation by 2026, focusing on vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups.

Expected results 

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased agency of women and girls (primary caregivers of children under 5 years) involved in and reached by VAS programming; and (2) increased coverage of VAS for girls and boys under five years of age.

Results achieved 

Results achieved as of December2024 include: (1) 7 out of 15 countries in the VINA program achieved more than 80% coverage for the 2-dose regimen; (2) Central African Republic, Sierra Leone and South Sudan came close to achieving more than 80% coverage for the 2-dose regimen target with 76%, 77% and 79% coverage respectively; (3) Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Madagascar, and Mozambique initiated gender analyses; (4) enhanced women’s ability to make informed decisions regarding VAS and their children by mobilizing women’s support groups. These groups increased access to resources and improve VAS outcomes in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, South Sudan, and Togo, reaching approximately 740,170 women; (5) conducted health literacy campaigns which reached 16,202 women and 14,067 men in Chad and 1,873,643 women and 1,221,051 men in Guinea; (6) trained 3,000 mother-to-mother support groups in South Sudan to raise awareness and provide information on the importance of VAS for children aged 6 to 59 months; (7) created improved linkages to sectoral programmes including water, sanitation and hygiene, social protection, and parenting in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Guinea, Madagascar, and Togo; (8) adopted gender-transformative approaches to increase fathers’ engagement and promote shared caregiving responsibilities. This resulted in mobilizing fathers and community leaders as change agents for VAS and gender equality; (9) reached more than 3,124,963 people (1,235,118 men and 1,889,845 women) through a mobilization awareness event on VAS at health centres and in the community across the Central African Republic, Chad, and Guinea; (10) formed 1,456 men’s groups around health, nutrition, and gender equality (4 in Angola, 1,440 in Burkina Faso, and 12 in Côte d’Ivoire); and (11) trained and mobilized 5,326 female community volunteers as advocates for VAS and gender equality.

Budget and spending 


Original budget $0
Planned disbursement $0
Transactions
Country percentages by sector
Type of finance Aid grant excluding debt reorganisation
Collaboration type Bilateral
Type of aid Contributions to specific-purpose programmes and funds managed by implementing partners
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