On Friday, UNICEF released a Humanitarian Action Update for the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda), where some 500,000 children under the age of five are suffering from severe acute malnutrition due to ongoing drought, chronic food insecurity and conflict.
You can see the concern on this mother's face as she feeds her severely malnourished child therapeutic milk at a UNICEF-supported feeding unit in Ethiopia.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-0429/Grum Tegene
The milk, rich in micronutrients, is the first phase of a feeding regimen--eight times daily-- that helps the body recover from the shock of malnutrition and condition it to digest food.
In Ethiopia, UNICEF is supporting a national Therapeutic Feeding Programme (TFP) in 342 districts to respond to the needs of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition all over the country.
Since the beginning of the year, UNICEF has provided training, technical assistance and 2,393 metric tons of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for the treatment of more than 200,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition. In marginalized and drought-affected areas of Somali and Afar regions, 1.6 million people were able to access essential health, nutrition and WASH services as a result of the UNICEF-supported mobile teams.
UNICEF has also supported the response to acute watery diarrhea outbreaks in the country by providing technical assistance and to date, nearly 500,000 people living in districts with diarrhea outbreaks have been reached with prevention measures through UNICEF coordination.
Similar efforts are underway in other countries in the Horn of Africa. You can support these efforts by making an online donation today.
