BOSSASO, Somalia, 21 August 2008 -- Malnutrition is one of the biggest challenges facing Somali children today, and according to an upcoming UN report, it could be getting worse. The report, to be issued by the Food Security Analysis Unit of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, indicates a "worst-case scenario," according to UNICEF Representative in Somalia Christian Balslev-Olesen. It notes that over the next 12 months, 3.6 million people -- one-half of the population -- will be totally dependent on food aid and emergency assistance. "We have never been in a situation so severe. Never, ever before," said Mr. Balslev-Oleson. UNICEF and its partners are providing a package of life-saving emergency interventions for Somalia's children, treating 5,200 severely malnourished children in camps every month, through outpatient feeding clinics and stabilization centres. At the '100 Bush' camp for people displaced by conflict in Bossaso, northeast Somalia, every child under the age of five is receiving 10 kg of nutritious UNIMIX, a high-protein, vitamin-rich food supplement. UNICEF has coordinated with local officials and villagers in an outreach programme to provide the food aid. An estimated 36 per cent of children in Somalia are underweight, and one in six is acutely malnourished. "The good news is, we can see -- and we can document -- that we have had an impact by doing this feeding programming," said Mr. Balslev-Olesen. To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/somalia_45269.html [More] [Less] |
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