UNICEF contributes to early childhood development and empowerment of adolescents, recognizing the importance of investing in the early years and the second chance of opportunities that adolescent ages open for children.
UNICEF partners with the state government, academia, NGOs, Community Based organization (CBOs), faith groups, youth groups, elected representatives and private sector in Odisha to improve the quality of delivery of health services, scale up of essential nutrition interventions, reduce open defecation and improve access to safe drinking water and water quality, improve the quality of education and to support child protection systems and mechanisms that help implement child protection legislation. This is executed through strategies like capacity development, system strengthening, community mobilization, evidence-based policy advocacy and partnerships.
UNICEF provides technical support to increase the coverage of facility based newborn care units and facilitates setting up more special newborn care units, including kangaroo mother care units and to strengthen routine immunization in the state, focusing on children in hard-to-reach and tribal areas.