UNICEF’s Post

Exciting new research published in Maternal & Child Nutrition explores dietary diversity and its determinants among households and children in IDP camps in Southern Somalia. This cross-sectional study led by Mohamed K. Ali and colleagues from Dalarna University and Save the Children International offers critical insights into the nutrition landscape in these challenging environments. Key Takeaways: High Household Dietary Diversity Scores (HDDS) across all studied locations, with a significant contrast in Child Dietary Diversity Scores (CDDS), which were notably lower. Factors like household size, wealth, and antenatal care attendance play a significant role in influencing dietary diversity. The study emphasizes the need for targeted nutritional interventions that consider these determinants to enhance the nutritional welfare of both households and children. These insights are vital for NGOs, policymakers, and public health professionals working to mitigate malnutrition in crisis settings. Read the full study here https://lnkd.in/d92zZJhu for a detailed analysis and thoughtful recommendations on improving maternal and child nutrition in IDP camps. Let’s discuss how these findings can shape effective interventions in similar contexts. #Nutrition #Food_Security #PublicHealth #HumanitarianAid #ResearchImpact #Somalia #IDPs #Dietary_Diversity Fatumo Osman Munshi Sulaiman Renée Flacking @Lars berglund

In short, the evolution of the critical nutrition scenario in Gaza depends ultimately on humanitarian access - which is severely restricted. This picture is a rapid decline. The Global Nutrition Cluster has just released an updated report on Gaza and headline findings include: - 90% of children aged 6-23 months and pregnant and breastfeeding women face severe food poverty. - 90% of children aged under 5 years are affected by one or more infectious diseases. - 81% of households lack safe and clean water. Read the report at: https://lnkd.in/gBbUShEG #gazachildren #rafah #ceasefire

“The face of malnutrition looks vastly different across the region, And so, we must address the underlying drivers of all forms of malnutrition according to each country’s context.” - Adele Khodr UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. UNICEF MENA outlines a new strategic direction to tackle the diverse range of nutrition problems and their underlying drivers in one of the most volatile and food insecure regions in the world. Read more: https://bit.ly/4cCbwtI

Reflecting on #EHF2024, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement underscores the urgent need to scale up efforts to combat the rise in acute #malnutrition, particularly wasting among vulnerable populations in countries affected by humanitarian crises. Our call to action 🆘 🔎 https://lnkd.in/gSgbQiea

Reflecting on the European Humanitarian Forum, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement highlights the urgent need to address rising acute #malnutrition, especially wasting among vulnerable populations in humanitarian crises. The global food crisis threatens progress in reducing malnutrition, with severe impacts on children. Preventive actions, including integrating nutrition services into primary health care and prioritizing women's and adolescent girls' nutrition, are crucial. Government leadership is key, and greater action is needed to draw attention to the consequences of neglecting #wasting. Urgent collaboration is necessary to embed nutrition-focused solutions into humanitarian responses and improve community health and resilience. https://lnkd.in/egk9KJDQ

A nation struggling with malnutrition cannot achieve development in various sectors, hence need to urgently address this critical issue collectively. The significance of diversity, particularly in fortified porridge, as a key solution against malnutrition for children, breastfeeding mothers, and expectant mothers in Malawi cannot go unnoticed. Despite ongoing challenges, Malawi has made some progress in addressing malnutrition, showing hope in achieving #sdg2 by 2030. Community-driven initiatives like the European Union funded Afikepo Project which ends this month have brought economic empowerment and reduced malnutrition in certain areas and experts suggest that disseminating the gained knowledge to other communities is crucial for combating malnutrition effectively. The urgency arises from UNICEF's estimation that over 62,000 Malawian children between 6 to 59 months face severe acute malnutrition in 2023, demanding immediate and sustained interventions by stakeholders and communities. https://lnkd.in/dUQBF9n4

We are heartened by USAID’s announcement today that they will commit $200 million in humanitarian aid to the procurement and distribution of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). In a world of abundance, every eleven seconds a child dies from malnutrition. Our main tool in the fight against this crisis is RUTF, and Edesia’s factory, one of only two production facilities in the U.S., runs literally 24/7 to make as much life-saving food as possible. Ending child malnutrition is possible, but we must invest in both treating and preventing malnutrition. https://bit.ly/3WrzX8P

A technical taskforce was created with us, Action Against Hunger Spain, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Integrated Phase Classification (IPC), the IMPACT-REACH initiative, UNICEF, Save the Children International, World Health Organization, and World Food Programme, to analyse the deteriorating #nutrition situation during the first 120 days of the current war in #Gaza. The taskforce led a nutrition situation analysis that was carried out in Gaza between December 2023–January 2024 and fills a crucial gap in nutrition data, where none had previously been available. Results suggest that the nutrition situation of women and children in Gaza is worsening, everywhere, but especially in Northern Gaza and Rafah. While there are differences in the data from different governorates, the analysis indicates a dire nutrition situation for the entire population of Gaza, both in the short and long term. It is expected that all areas of Gaza will be affected by #malnutrition, but areas receiving limited or no #humanitarianaid will be particularly impacted. As lack of access to Gaza impeded the collection of anthropometric measurements, a multi-sectoral analytic approach focusing on the drivers of acute malnutrition was carried out. The analysis also considered nutritional vulnerabilities; humanitarian assistance being provided; and access to health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and social protection services. Click below to read this analysis in full and understand more about the nutrition situation people of Gaza are facing.

Joint World Health Organization/ UNICEF/ World Food Programme News Release Children’s lives threatened by rising #malnutrition in the #GazaStrip A steep rise in malnutrition among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in the Gaza strip poses grave threats to their health, according to a comprehensive new analysis released by the Global Nutrition Cluster: https://lnkd.in/dWkXwpYf As the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip enters its 20th week, food and safe water have become incredibly scarce and diseases are rife, compromising women and children’s nutrition and immunity and resulting in a surge of acute malnutrition. The report “Nutrition Vulnerability and Situation Analysis - Gaza” – finds that the situation is particularly extreme in the Northern Gaza Strip, which has been almost completely cut off from aid for weeks. Nutrition screenings conducted at shelters and health centres in the north found that 15.6 per cent – or 1 in 6 children under 2 years of age – are acutely malnourished. Of these, almost 3 per cent suffer from severe wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, which puts young children at highest risk of medical complications and death unless they receive urgent treatment. As the data were collected in January, the situation is likely to be even graver today. #gazawar WHO Foundation