Cyclone Pam Response in Vanuatu: UNFPA Humanitarian Update #6, 27 March 2015

Initial reports indicate that women in evacuation centers and host communities are experiencing acute needs, for which the Ministry of Health requires essential supplies and reproductive health services.

With many health facilities and birthing clinics destroyed and damaged, limited access to life-saving maternal and neonatal health services will put many women and babies at high risk of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Violence against women has also been confirmed in the Vanuatu Women’s Counseling Center monitoring missions in Shefa as well as in reports for the medical staff. In addition, the MIRA has indicated high rates of psychosocial distress among the population.