Emergency grant aid to the Federal Republic of Somalia in response to the polio outbreak

TOKYO, Japan, August 2, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- On August 2, the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency grand aid of 1.35 million US dollars (approximately one hundred and ten million Japanese yen) through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support the polio outbreak response in Somalia.

On May 9, WPV (wild poliovirus) Type 1 was confirmed in a 32-month-old child from Banadir located in South and Central Somalia. After that, 72 cases were confirmed by July 2 and urgent action is requested as the infection is expanding rapidly.

The Government of Japan manifested the support for Africa's further development at the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) this June and tackles for Somalia's socio-economic development which was discussed at the Somalia Conference on May 31. The Government of Japan, upon the request from UNICEF and from a humanitarian point of view, decided to extend this grant to contribute to efforts toward polio eradication.