The plan has been developed in close consultation with the Rakhine government, the head of UNICEF’s office in the state capital, Sittwe, Yosi Echeverry Burckhardt, told a media briefing in Yangon on April 30.

The plan has an estimated budget of US$12 million (about K11.5 billion) and will be rolled out over two years starting this month, the briefing was told.

“The multi-sector state level work plan includes child protection, education, young child survival and development components that aim to improve the lives of all children in Rakine State,” Ms Burckhardt told the briefing.

Ms Burckhardt added that as well asfocusing on nutrition, education, child protection and water and sanitation projects, UNICEF would continue to support people affected by conflict and natural disasters.

UNICEF research findings presented at the briefing showed that children in Rakhine were more likely to have lower health and nutritional levels than other children in Myanmar. They also had low levels of access to clean water, were affected by the worst sanitation situation in Myanmar and had one of the lowest rates of school entry among five-year-olds.

UNICEF’s top official in Myanmar, Bertrand Bainvel, said that because of the number of children displaced by communal violence in Rakhine since June 2012 it was essential to continue implementing aid and development plans throughout the state.

Mr Bainvel said children had been most affected by the violence, which claimed scores of lives and left tens of thousands of people homeless and living in camps.

“To understand beyond the crisis and violence in Rakhine … there are many development issues that need to be addressed,” Mr Bainvel told the briefing.

“And we need to have a good and conducive environment for the interventions to be effective,” he said.

Aid and humanitarian work was significantly disrupted in Rakhine in late March after religious tensions escalated into attacks on the offices and warehouses of UN agencies and NGOs in Sittwe, forcing them to suspend operations and withdraw staff.

In February, the international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontier (Holland) was expelled from Rakhine by the Myanmar government after being accused of giving Muslims preferential treatment.

Asked about perceptions ofbias among Buddhists over the provision of aid, MrBainvel stressed that UNICEF’s policy was to assist children solely on the basis of need.

“We believe all children, regardless of gender or religion, have the right to access to health care and education,” he said.