Tagged "sahel"

VIDEO REPORT: Youth teach handwashing skills to keep their community healthy

Watch Youssouf Dissa explaining about the importance of good hygiene and health.

For more infomation, please visit:
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/mali_65509.html

VIDEO REPORT: Outpatient treatment for severe malnutrition
It’s estimated that just under a quarter of a million children in Nigeria are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a deadly condition.

The staple diet here is guinea corn, maize meal and rice. All are rich in carbohydrates, but, on their own, they are not sufficient to ensure that children get the range of nutrients they need.

As a result, thousands of children are now attending outpatient therapeutic centres for treatment. These centres are part of an integrated health strategy that UNICEF is supporting called Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM)

Read more: http://uni.cf/QkYkhn

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: 17 July 2012

A child is weighed in a UNICEF-supported feeding centre in N’Djamena, Chad.

Beset by chronic stunting, endemic poverty and illiteracy, as well as inadequate social services, Chadian children are among the world’s most vulnerable. In Chad, one of eight Sahelian countries currently affected by a food crisis, some 127,300 under-five children may die of nutrition-related illnesses. A renewed global commitment to child survival entails reaching those most at risk.

©UNICEF/Kate Holt

To see more: www.unicef.org/photography

7-month-old Kumbaba is carried by his mother, Oumou Sy, and accompanied by a health worker at the UNICEF-supported nutrition centre in Kaédi Hospital, in the city of Kaédi in the southern Gorgol Region of Mauritania. Kumbaba, who is severely malnourished, is being taken to be weighed and measured. His mother left his two siblings behind in their rural village of Bir Baraka in order to bring him to the health facility for treatment.

In May 2012, Mauritania is one of eight countries in the Sahel region facing a nutrition crisis that now affects over 15 million people, with more than 1 million under-five children at risk of dying from nutrition-related illnesses. The regional nutrition crisis is the result of repeated drought-related food shortages, from which people have had insufficient time to recover before being again affected. In Mauritania, more than 700,000 people (nearly 25 per cent of households), including 110,000 children under age five, are food insecure. Some 35,000 children are acutely malnourished, numbers which are expected to rise to 90,000 by the end of the year. Mauritania has also been affected by the influx of more than 64,000 refugees – mostly children and women – fleeing ongoing fighting in neighbouring Mali. Working with the Government and other partners, UNICEF nutrition support includes screenings to identify malnourished children and ready-to-use therapeutic foods to treat malnutrition throughout the country. UNICEF assistance in refugee camps and host communities includes: the provision of safe water and sanitation equipment and supplies; support for measles vaccinations and other health efforts; and the provision of education and recreation supplies.

http://www.unicef.org

Women prepare an enriched flour mixture of rice, sugar, oil and cowpeas at a UNICEF-supported health centre in the town of Dagamanet, Agadez Region of Niger. The mixture is used to treat children with moderate-to-severe malnutrition. Other nutritional measures, including ready-to-eat therapeutic food and exclusive breastfeeding for at least the first six months of a child’s life, are also being utilized to treat malnutrition. Chronic food deficits, antiquated agricultural practices and insufficient cultivated land have left the country vulnerable to recurring food crises.

http://www.unicef.org

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: 19 June 2012

A community handpump, in Est Region of Burkina Faso.

The Sahel region’s current food shortages combine the effects of changing global climate patterns, entrenched poverty and unsustainable development practice. The result is a nutrition crisis threatening over 1 million under-five children. The 20–22 June United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – known as Rio+20 – aims to unite governments around a roadmap to advance sustainable solutions for all.

To learn more: www.unicef.org/photography

VIDEO REPORT: UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo calls for help in the Sahel

It’s estimated that 18 million people in nine countries are affected by the crisis, which has been precipitated by successive droughts and rising food prices. Conflict in Mali has displaced hundreds of thousands, adding to the pressure on families.

UNICEF is undertaking an integrated response. During the first four months of the year, UNICEF provided treatment to more than a quarter of a million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Health services are being provided in concert with nutrition assistance; more than 6 million children have been vaccinated against measles and more than 9 million have received a treated bed net to reduce the risk of malaria. Because children from affected communities are dropping out of school, educational support is also being provided.

But as the rainy season approaches, cholera is becoming an increasing threat. UNICEF is also preparing to respond to epidemics of measles and meningitis, which could have a devastating effect on already undernourished children.

Learn more: http://www.unicef.org/

VIDEO REPORT: In Chad, finding long-term solutions to the nutrition crisis

Join UNICEF correspondent Chris Niles as she reports on how UNICEF is working on long-term solutions to the nutrition crisis in Chad.