The Japanese government donated around $16 million to provide essential support to Palestinian children and women in partnership with UNICEF, Thursday said a UNICEF press release on.

UNICEF Special Representative, in occupied Palestine, Jean Gough stated in a press release that the donation illustrates Japan’s commitment to improve the lives of children all over the world, and especially in the occupied Palestinian territory.

She said, “We are very grateful to the Government of Japan for their generous gesture of support and their exceptional spirit of solidarity, one year after Japan itself was hit by a Tsunami.”

The release said that the Japanese contribution will help UNICEF address the needs of Palestinian children and mothers in a wide range of areas which are in line with the 2011-2013 Program Plan of Action signed between the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development and UNICEF in December 2010.

The Japanese contribution, among other goals, aims to reduce the risks of child and maternal mortality in vulnerable communities through ensuring availability of essential drugs for 250,000 children under-five and 70,000 pregnant women in Gaza; and ensuring quality health care through mobile clinics for 30,000 children and 30,000 pregnant and lactating women in Area ‘C’ of the West Bank.

It will also improve learning environments in Gaza and Area C for 52,000 children and 21,500 adolescents.

Wafa/AB