Fighting Malnutrition to Save Lives
Famine crisis in Somalia
The Horn of Africa is experiencing the worst drought in 60 years. In Somalia, famine has been declared in multiple regions — areas where 10% of the children under five die every 3 months. Severe malnutrition rates are the reality in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, where thousands of families are arriving daily to escape violence and starvation in Somalia.
The current situation represents the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world today and Africa's worst food security crisis since Somalia's famine twenty years ago.
A silent killer
Somalia is not the only place where children are starving.
Malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than 1/3 of all childhood deaths. Prices for basic food like rice, maize, wheat, oil, sugar and salt are skyrocketing, forcing millions of the world's poorest children into severe malnourishment and starvation.
In much of the world, children with full bellies are still lacking the nutrients and vitamins they need to grow to their full potential. A malnourished child is less able to fight off illness, less likely to get the most out of schooling, and often becomes physically and mentally stunted. Malnutrition keeps children trapped in the cycle of poverty.
You can help
UNICEF depends on the generosity of donors to support child nutrition. Whether through an emergency feeding program during a disaster or famine or an established community clinic offering education and support to young mothers, UNICEF is committed to preventing and treating child malnutrition around the globe, helping every child get the nutrition needed for a healthy and promising future.
Related Nutrition and Food Security Links
February 2, 2012
Community-based nutrition programs empowering families to prevent malnutrition in Rwanda
According to a recent Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey, 44% of all children in Rwanda are chronically malnourished or stunted due to a lack of food. With UNICEF support, the Rwandan Government has established community-based nutrition programs to combat malnutrition. UNICEF is also helping the country’s 30 districts develop plans to eliminate malnutrition. These efforts empower communities to ensure that their children get a healthy start.
January 24, 2012
In Haiti, an unprecedented expansion in nutrition services for children and women
Even before the devastating earthquake, malnutrition had reached crisis levels in Haiti. One fifth of children under age 5 were underweight, and nearly a third suffered chronic malnutrition. Two years after the disaster, there has been an unprecedented expansion in preventative and therapeutic nutrition services for children and women. Services include helping local doctors refine their abilities to ensure nutrition programs continue to operate efficiently and teaching the importance of breastfeeding to mothers among others.
January 5, 2012
A 'children's crisis' unfolds in West and Central Africa's Sahel region
Even as the battle against hunger continues in the drought-hit Horn of Africa, another crisis has begun to unfold in eight countries across West Africa. More than a million children in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa are at risk of becoming severely malnourished. Inadequate rain, poor harvests and rising food prices have left hundreds of thousands of children vulnerable and weak.
