The Children’s Famine

The plight of children suffering from famine in East Africaby Jacqui Southey, UNICEF NZ

The Horn of Africa

• The children’s famine is taking place in the Horn of Africa.

• The Horn is largely made up 3 main countries, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

• The famine has been named the Children’s Famine, because 2.3 million children are acutely malnourished due to the famine. Furthermore 30% of children are acutely malnourished, exceeding global malnutrition levels.

• Without direct assistance and aid intervention, these children have little chance of survival.

Map No. 4188 Rev. 2 UNITED NATIONS

The Children

• 2.3 million Children are suffering from malnutrition in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

• UNICEF is providing therapeutic food to help feed those affected by the famine.

• We are currently providing blanket nutrition for 360,000 children in Somalia alone.

Image UNI114836: © UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1124/Holt

On 16 July, a small girl stands amid a crowd that has come to meet with UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, in the village of Kapua in Turkana District in Rift Valley Province.

Causes of the FamineThere are a number of reasons the famine has occurred. The three main causes are drought, conflict, and escalating food prices.•Prolonged drought has caused the widespread failure of crops for the second year running. Livestock are also severely affected and dying due to lack of food and water.•Families are selling livestock to pay for expensive food, some staple items such as cereals have risen by 240%.•Violent conflict in Somalia has caused people to flee their homes in search of safety. They have had to leave their homes and possessions behind. •The conflict has also prevented the much needed sowing of crops which would normally have been used to provide food for people and livestock.

Image UNI114742: © UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1023/Holt

Two girls carry firewood during a dust storm, in an area for new arrivals in the Dagahaley refugee camp in North Eastern Province, near the Kenya-Somalia

border. This is the worst drought in 60 years.

Refugee CampsRefugee camps are necessary to provide relief and shelter for people who can no longer live in their own homes. This situation usually occurs when there is incredibly violent conflict, an extreme natural disaster or weather event.

The people who have been forced to flee their homes are known as refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs). The movement of people seeking help due to extreme conditions forcing them to leave their homes, is also known as stress migration.

In the Horn of Africa thousands of people are walking hundreds of kilometres in search of help, many will not make it. People of all ages are seeking refuge in camps such as Dadaab, Kenya. The lucky ones who reach the camp will receive food, water, shelter and medicine. Many people, especially children, who arrive at the camp are extremely ill. Some are so acutely malnourished they are unable to even swallow. These children are treated in intensive care, they are extremely fragile and can only survive with specialist medical treatment.

The Dagahaley Refugee camp on the Kenya – Somalia Border

Somali women and children stand outside temporary tents provided by UNHCR (the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in the Dagahaley refugee camp in North Eastern Province, near the Kenya-Somalia border.

Clothing and other items hang on small trees near several makeshift tents. The camp is among three that comprise the Dadaab camps, located near the town of Dadaab in Garissa District. © UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1018/Kate Holt

How are UNICEF helping?UNICEF has launched an integrated response to aid refugees; people who are affected by drought, famine and/or conflict.

Nutrition, WASH, child protection, education and health (including immunisations) are all part of the campaign.

UNICEF is the single largest agency delivering therapeutic and supplementary nutrition services in Somalia. We are also working with a number of partners including, international governments, 60 other Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other aid agencies. This is so we can reach children as quickly as possible.

Providing food alone is not enough. Medicines such as measles vaccinations and vitamin A supplements are also essential for ensuring the survival of these children.

Shelter and sanitation are absolutely necessary. Without sanitation facilities widespread disease outbreak is incredibly likely.Ensuring the children’s education is very important. Education is absolutely necessary to break the cycle of poverty.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1032/Kate Holt

Distribution

© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-0203/Holt © UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1205/Holt

Children and women receive food at a distribution point organized by the World Food Programme (WFP), near the port in Mogadishu, the capital. WFP and AMISOM are some of the partners UNICEF is working with.People collect water during a distribution in a camp for people displaced by the drought, in Mogadishu, the capital. The water is being distributed by troops from AMISOM (the African Union Mission in Somalia) from their base supplies. AMISOM was established by the United Nations to support peace, stability and the safe delivery of humanitarian aid in the country.

Nutrition

The food has run out, for many there is nothing to eat. The children in this photo have not had any food for two days.

2.3 million children are acutely malnourished and without direct intervention will not be able to survive. When a child is severely malnourished their digestive system and metabolism shut down. Even if there was normal food available they would not be able to eat it. At this stage they must be treated with therapeutic foods.

Therapeutic foods that Unicef are providing for malnourished children include:

•Therapeutic Milk – used to kick start a child’s metabolism and enable them to start eating again.

•ORT Sachet – Oral Rehydration Therapy, used to rehydrate children who are suffering from dehydration.

Plumpy’Nut – A high energy peanut based paste which is easily digestible. It contains all the minerals and nutrients a child needs to survive.High Energy Biscuits – Contain minerals and vitamins and are high in protein. They are also easy to eat and distribute in times of extreme emergency.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1034/Kate Holt

Nutrition ScreeningA sleeping child’s upper arm is measured by a nurse during a UNICEF-assisted nutrition screening in Longelop Village, near the town of Lodwar, capital of Turkana District, in Rift Valley Province. The measurement, using a mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) armband, is taken to assess a child’s nutrition status. The red section of the armband indicates that he is severely malnourished.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1108/Holt

Immunisation and Health• Over the next six months Unicef are planning

to vaccinate 2.5 million children up to the age of 15 years old against measles, in Somalia alone.

• This is essential as it is incredibly like that a disease outbreak could occur in the refugee camps.

• It is critical to prevent this as the children are already weak and malnourished. A further complication such as measles could prove fatal for many children.

• Maternal and child health clinics are being set up to provide much needed health care for women and children. This care includes maternity care and the provision of essential vaccines, medicines and vital supplements

A mobile medical team treat IDPs at the Alla-Yasir camp in Somalia. SOYDA L, 23 July 2011

WASH – Water Sanitation and HygieneUNICEF are providing access to clean water and sanitation.

Access to clean water includes:•Digging or deepening bores.•New water pumps.•Chlorinating water to make it safe for consumption.•Water truck delivery to distribute water to those who have no other water supply.

Access to sanitation includes:•Providing latrines in refugee camps or towns hosting internally displaced people (refugees).•Providing soap and education about the necessity of washing hands with soap to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

12-year-old Katherine Ondoga washes her hands at a tap outside newly built latrines at a school in Naros .

Village, near the town of Lodwar, capital of Turkana District, in Rift Valley Province. Illustrations on walls at the latrines promote healthy hygiene behaviours.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1120/Holt

Education

Due to the stress migrations of communities, as people search for food, water and safe shelter, schools in many Somalian communities have shut down.

UNICEF are providing resources to help children continue or resume their education during the famine. These resources include, temporary learning spaces, school-in-a-box kits, and recreation kits.

In some areas UNICEF are using schools to distribute food rations, this is helping to keep the schools open and the children attending school. It is also helping to stem stress migrations.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1013/Gangale

© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1118/Holt

Girls attend a class in Horyal Primary School in the Ifo refugee camp.

Children attend a UNICEF supported hygiene education in a primary school in Naros Village.

Review Questions• Why is the famine called the Children’s Famine?• What does IDPs stand for?• What is a stress migration and how is it caused?• What sorts of therapeutic foods do UNICEF supply?• In what ways are UNICEF working to help the people in the Horn of

Africa?• Why is it important for children to attend school, and why are

schools being set up in refugee camps?• What are the main identified causes of the famine?• Why is aid essential to help save lives of people affected by the

Children’s Famine?• How can New Zealander’s help children suffering in the Children’s

Famine?