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Nutrition

UNICEF and partners continue delivering nutritional services for Somali children
NAIROBI, 24 July 2008 - While security conditions continue to deteriorate particularly in the Southern parts of Somalia, UNICEF and partners  ...

Ethiopia: Child survival gains threatened by malnutrition
GENEVA /ADDIS ABABA, 20 May 2008 - An estimated 126,000 children are in need of urgent therapeutic care for severe...

UNICEF feeds 44,000 children in Somalia
NAIROBI, 14 May 2008 - Amid worsening drought conditions, soaring food prices and mass displacement of people due to conflict, UNICEF has started...

Malnutrition at emergency levels in Pinga Health Zone, North Kivu, DRC; UNICEF and partners set up emergency nutritional response
GOMA,  7 May 2008 -  Malnutrition rates are at emergency levels in the Pinga health zone in northwestern Masisi Territory, North Kivu, DRC due...

UNICEF warns of critical levels of malnutrition amongst Somali children
NAIROBI, 12 September 2007 - Following a recent nutrition survey, UNICEF and its partners estimate that 83,000 children in central and southern Somalia suffer...

Far too many children still at risk of malnutrition in Niger
NIAMEY, 31 July 2007 – On the onset of the lean season, when communities are most vulnerable, still too many children are at risk of malnutrition.

Despite progress, malnutrition still a major challenge to child survival in Niger
NIAMEY/NIGER, 23 March 2007 – Malnutrition rates among children in Niger have improved significantly over the last year, according to a new survey, but the gains could be lost...

Regional Directors of three United Nations agencies sign the “Lima Act”
LIMA, 23 November 2006 - In the presence of the regional directors of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and UNICEF and President Alan García Pérez, the “Lima Act” was signed in Peru’s Government Palace.

Campaigning for child nutrition in the Sahel region
NIAMEY, 8 August 2006 – One year after the mobilization of the international community in support of Niger’s food and nutritional crisis, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Esther Guluma, is calling for vigilance towards the nutritional vulnerability of children in the Sahel region. Guluma is addressing the international community to campaign for child nutrition in the Sahel.

Nutritional screening to save lives in Timor-Leste
DILI, 30 June 2006 – The Ministry of Health of Timor-Leste, supported by UNICEF and other partners, plan to begin the nutritional screening of displaced children in the capital, Dili, today to assess the scale of malnutrition as the country enters its third month of emergency.

Salt producers and health workers join forces to combat iodine deficiency disorder
CAIRO, 21 June 2006 – Preparations for a fresh campaign against iodine deficiency disorder (IDD), the single most important preventable cause of brain damage among children, have been boosted following the completion of a training workshop for staff from the Ministry of Health and Population, National Nutrition Institute and other concerned bodies including, for the first time, experts from the Egyptian salt industry.

WFP and UNICEF: Bleakest malnutrition situation in Somalia in years
NAIROBI, 16 June 2006 – Recent outbreaks of fighting and the worst drought in a decade have pushed many people in Somalia to their limit, creating the bleakest malnutrition situation in years, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF warned today.

UNICEF Warns Malnutrition on Rise for Niger’s Children
NIAMEY, May 12 2006 - Several reports reveal that the number of malnourished children arriving at UNICEF-supported nutritional rehabilitation centres is increasing.  Between 1 January and 4 May 2006, 64,593 malnourished children have been admitted in the nutritional rehabilitation programmes, of which 53,931 were suffering from moderate acute malnutrition and 10,662 from severe acute malnutrition.

Despite Rains, 40,000 Children Still Face Death
GENEVA, 15 May 2006 – UNICEF said today that despite torrential rains in April, tens of thousands of pastoralist children still face death in one of the world’s most inhospitable regions.

Food Insecurity in Iraq Persists: Children Suffer
AMMAN/BAGHDAD, 11 May 2006 – Despite the laudable efforts of the Public Distribution System (PDS) of food baskets, many of Iraq’s poorer households are still food insecure, according to a Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis launched today, based on the most recent data from 2005.

UNICEF Warns that Malnourished Children Still Face Death across the Horn of Africa
WHO: Rima Salah, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director; Keith McKenzie, UNICEF Special Advisor for the Horn of Africa Crisis

WHAT:  Press conference to issue Child Alert: Horn of Africa, documenting the current situation of children affected by the drought across Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti.  The Child Alert report is the third in a briefing series that presents core challenges for children in a given crisis location at a given time.

UNICEF and WFP Executive Directors Make First Joint Visit to Latin America/Caribbean region
PANAMA CITY, 8 May 2006 – On their first joint visit to the region, World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director James T. Morris and UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman will meet in Panama City tomorrow with the heads of their Latin America and Caribbean country offices to intensify common efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the international community.

A Quarter of the World’s Children Seriously Underweight
NEW YORK, 2 May 2006 - More than one quarter of all children under the age of five in developing countries are underweight, many to a life-threatening degree, says a UNICEF report published today. Poor nutrition remains a global epidemic contributing to more than half of all child deaths, about 5.6 million per year.

UNICEF Unveils Alarming Trends in Global Child Nutrition
Good nutrition is the platform for all human progress and one of the most fundamental tests of global development. This UNICEF report reveals the results of efforts since 1990 to reduce the proportion of underweight children in the world.

UNICEF Turkmenistan Welcomes Decree Boosting Wheat Flour Fortification
ASHGABAT, 26 April 2006 – President Saparmurat Niyazov issued a decree mandating the fortification of wheat flour with iron and folic acid in Turkmenistan.  The decree was signed on 24 April at the Presidential Palace.

Niger: More than 300,000 children saved from malnutrition in 2005, but work is far from over
NIAMEY, NIGER, 21 December 2005 - A recent survey conducted by the government of Niger, the Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta and UNICEF confirms that the children of Niger still face high levels of malnutrition.

Children in Darfur in better health but more needs to be done
KHARTOUM, 20 October 2005 – The global  acute malnutrition rate among children aged 6-59 months in Darfur has improved from 21.8 per cent in September 2004 to 11.9 per cent in October 2005 as a result of a sustained and integrated humanitarian assistance programme. 

Good nutrition critical to child health and development
NEW YORK, 15 October 2005 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman marked World Food Day by calling for increased focus on mother and child nutrition as the backbone of a healthy start in life.  She said ensuring that women and children are well-nourished is essential to helping reach the Millennium Development Goals, because sound nutrition is central to health, learning, and well-being.

High stakes for Malawi's children as malnutrition rises
Nairobi, 14 October -  Severe malnutrition is alarmingly on the increase among under-five children in Malawi but many could yet be pulled back from the brink if needed funds arrived to support the efforts of government and UN relief agencies.

UNICEF, MSF and WFP join forces to save children’s lives in Niger
Niamey-Niger/Geneva/New York – 29 September 2005  - Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP) launch a joint Targeted Supplementary Feeding Initiative in Zinder, southern Niger.

UNICEF-supported school launches feeding programme in Nigeria
ABUJA, 27 September 2005 -- As the new school year starts in Nigeria, the Ministry of Education chose a UNICEF-supported school to launch a major national programme, aimed at providing one meal per day to all pupils during schools days. The President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, kicked off the Home-grown School Feeding and Health Programme, at Science Primary School Kuje, near Abuja, on Monday 26 September, 2005.

Canadian government donates $10 million (Cdn) to UNICEF Niger
NIGER, 5 August 2005 - Today in Maradi, Niger, the Honorable Aileen Carroll, Minister of International Cooperation, announced that Canada, through the Canadian International Development Agency, will increase its contribution by $10 million (Cdn) to fight under-nutrition and hunger in the Sahel region of Africa, including Niger. In the presence of UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Rima Salah, the Minister said that $6 million (Cdn) of that money would go to support UNICEF’s immediate aim of treating an estimated 32,000 suffering from severe malnutrition and 160,000 children suffering from moderate malnutrition in Niger.

UNICEF trains 85 health workers to treat under-nutrition in Niger
MARADI, NIGER/GENEVA/NEW YORK, 2 August 2005 - UNICEF Niger and the Ministry of Public Health of Niger are now conducting a second round of capacity-building training of national health workers in Niger in the management of severe and moderate under-nutrition of children.

French government donates life-saving supplies to UNICEF Niger
NIGER, 30 July 2005 - The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Philippe Douste-Blazy, arrived in Niamey, Niger this morning, accompanying an air-transport of 1.7 tons of essential drugs, including antibiotics, anti-malarials and de-worming tablets, as well as special oral re-hydration salts for the treatment of diarrhea in severely malnourished children. An estimated 160,000 children in Niger are suffering from moderate under-nutrition & another 32,000 children are suffering from severe under-nutrition.

Niger food crisis increases child deaths
NIAMEY/GENEVA - 12 July 2005 - Acute malnutrition rates have risen to 13.4 per cent in southern Niger Maradi and Zinder Regions, with 2.5 per cent of this group identified as severely malnourished children under age five, says UNICEF quoting recent nutrition surveys by the UN and several NGOs.

UNICEF calls for end to compassion fatigue over Ethiopia’s dying children
ADDIS ABABA, 6 July 2005 – Despite the enthusiasm surrounding the Live 8 concerts in the run up to the G8 summit meeting, donors are showing increasingly worrying signs of compassion fatigue over the plight of Ethiopia’s severely malnourished and dying children, UNICEF warned today.

UNICEF responds to food crisis in Niger
NIAMEY, 13 June 2005 - UNICEF announced today that it is providing US$222,000 (116 million francs CFA) worth of therapeutic food and growth monitoring equipment to the Nigerien Government to strengthen efforts by the Government and other partners involved in managing the food and nutrition crisis affecting the most vulnerable groups in Niger -- particularly children. 

Helen Keller International and UNICEF team up for children
NEW YORK, 27 APRIL 2005 - Helen Keller International (HKI) and UNICEF are joining forces to combat malnutrition and blindness in children, two of poverty’s most tragic health consequences.

Niger food shortages threatening Children, UNICEF calls for urgent funding
GENEVA/NIAMEY, 22 April 2005 – UNICEF today called for urgent funding to feed 800,000 children between under five years of age caught in the throes of a food crisis due to an ongoing plague of locusts  and insufficient rainfall.

New rapid nutritional assessment survey of Aceh released
ACEH, 15 April 2005 - A survey of more than 3700 households in the aftermath of the tsunami in Aceh confirms the immediate nutritional needs of high-risk groups in tsunami-affected areas have been met.

UNICEF launches $144.5 million appeal
NEW YORK, 6 January 2005 - UNICEF is seeking $144.5 million to support urgent humanitarian aid for the estimated 1.5 million affected children in South Asia, many of which have been orphaned or separated from their families and are in critical need of basic care and support. UNICEF has estimated that children account for more than one-third of tsunami deaths.

March 19, 2003: The Situation of Iraq's Children
19 March 2003 - UNICEF today issued a stark warning that the most vulnerable of Iraq's children may not have the strength to survive the impact of war. A day after UN international staff left Iraq for their own safety, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy catalogued what her agency had done -and what it had run out of time to do - to improve the survival chances of Iraq children. (Press release)

World Health Day, plight of Afghanistan's children cause for concern
KABUL, 6 April 2003 - On the occasion of World Health Day, which is celebrated on 7 April, the United Nations Children's Fund is drawing attention to the continuing health and nutritional problems faced by millions of children and women in Afghanistan.  (News Note)

Lack of vitamins and minerals impairs a third of world population
NEW YORK, 24 March 2004 -- As many as a third of the world's people do not meet their physical and intellectual potential because of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, according to a report released in New York today by UNICEF and The Micronutrient Initiative. The report is accompanied by individual Damage Assessment Reports that present the most comprehensive picture to date of the toll being taken by vitamin and mineral deficiency in 80 developing countries.

A pinch of salt can go further In West Africa
DAKAR, 19 October 2004 – Some 30 per cent of West African children are still missing out on the enormous benefits of iodized household salt, UNICEF announced today at a meeting of West African leaders and health and industry officials.

Africa fighting back against “hidden hunger” in children
JOHANNESBURG, 7 October 2004 – A report released today says that Africa is fighting back against vitamin and mineral deficiencies, saving millions of women and children from death and debilitation through simple, cost effective strategies such as fortifying staple foods. But millions of children can still be helped if current strategies and partnerships are extended to reach every country and every child.

Malnutrition down by half among Iraqi children
BAGHDAD / GENEVA / NEW YORK, 21 November, 2002 - Child malnutrition rates in the south and center of Iraq have fallen to the lowest level since they peaked in 1996, according to a new survey released today by UNICEF.

UNICEF racing to bolster 400,000 malnourished children in Iraq
Tuesday, 11 March 2003 - With the threat of war looming over Iraq, UNICEF is providing special therapeutic food for over 400,000 malnourished children across the country in an urgent effort to bolster their chances of survival in the event of a conflict. Working closely with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF has trucked more than 1,000 metric tonnes of high-protein biscuits into Iraq in recent days. The biscuits, which the government is now delivering to health centres across the country, are part of an ongoing UNICEF campaign to reach Iraqi children with life-protecting nutrients and vaccines ahead of a possible conflict. (Press release)

Drought increases risk of malnutrition in Northern Somalia
NAIROBI, 6 January 2004 - In response to severe drought in parts of the Sool and Sanaag regions of northern Somalia, UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies begin a second phase of emergency interventions this week.

Child nutrition in DPRK, improved, but UN agencies concerned
Thursday, 20 February 2003 - Malnutrition rates among children in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have improved considerably over the past four years, according to a new survey, but the UN agencies that announced the findings today said the gains could be lost if international support for humanitarian assistance to the country continues to slacken. (Press release)

WFP and UNICEF strengthen cooperation to reduce child malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean
PANAMA CITY, 6 AUGUST 2003 – The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and the UNICEF signed a new agreement today to strengthen their cooperation in reducing child malnutrition in Latin American and the Caribbean. The agreement was signed by Per Engebak, UNICEF's Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Zoraida Mesa, WFP's Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.

ECHO donates 1.6 million euros to UNICEF for Zimbabwe's children
HARARE, ZIMBABWE, 20 September 2004 - The European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) in Zimbabwe has contributed EURO 1,600 000 to UNICEF for providing targeted assistance to the country’s most vulnerable women and children.

UNICEF: Iraq survey finds child health sliding
BAGHDAD / GENEVA / NEW YORK, 14 May 2003 – Two months after the start of the Iraq war, UNICEF has called for urgent action to halt what it believes is the plummeting nutritional status of Iraqi children.  (Press Release)

Vitamins & minerals for children fortifies economic development in China
BEIJING/GENEVA/ NEW YORK, 3 September 2004 – China’s massive drive to reduce the damage done by vitamin and mineral deficiency, particularly to children, is paying rich dividends for its economy, UNICEF and the Chinese Ministry of Health announced today.

UNICEF warns of worsening situation for children in Iraq
Wednesday, 9 April 2003 - UNICEF issued a warning today that despite significant progress in humanitarian cross-border trucking operations, early attempts by UNICEF to reach Iraqi children and women were being significantly hampered by what it called "a residue of fear and chaos." (Press release)

Bellamy sees improvements for children in DPRK
SEOUL, 17 March 2004 – Despite international isolation and a political impasse with the West, efforts to save and improve the lives of North Korean children are working, the head of UNICEF said today, citing vastly improved immunization rates and better systems for finding and treating cases of severe malnutrition. 

Reducing vitamin deficiency can improve world economy
DAVOS, 21 January 2004  –  A new report from UNICEF and the Micronutrient Initiative finds that lack of basic vitamins and minerals in the diet is damaging the health of one-third of the world’s people and holding back the economic development of virtually every country in the southern hemisphere.

Not by food alone: UNICEF urges action against malnutrition
ROME, 11 June 2002 - UNICEF said today that global success in lowering child malnutrition could only be achieved through comprehensive action on numerous fronts - including many not directly related to food.

UNICEF: Breastfeeding can save over 1 million lives yearly
NEW YORK, 30 July 2004 – On the eve of World Breastfeeding Week UNICEF said that by expanding the number of women who exclusively breastfeed during their child’s first six months, at least 1.3 million infant lives could be saved this year.

Africa fighting back against “hidden hunger” in children
JOHANNESBURG, 7 October 2004 – A report released today says that Africa is fighting back against vitamin and mineral deficiencies, saving millions of women and children from death and debilitation through simple, cost effective strategies such as fortifying staple foods. But millions of children can still be helped if current strategies and partnerships are extended to reach every country and every child.