Bringing Hope to Children with Malnutrition in Drought-affected Somalia

Dollow, Somalia, February 2023: When Halima arrived at the Dollow IDP camp with her two young children, she was still in shock at how hard her life had become. The drought and climate change had devastated the region, and Halima had struggled to find food for her family. Her youngest child, Hassan, had begun to suffer from malnutrition, and she felt powerless to help him.

That is when Halima heard about a new nutrition campaign being conducted by UNICEF in partnership with the local organisation CEDA. The programme was aimed at supporting communities affected by the drought and climate change in Dollow, providing lifesaving Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to malnourished children through mobile outreach teams and health facilities.

Mukhtar Yunis Ali, a nutrition specialist with CEDA, explains that the programme was focused on treating and rehabilitating children with nutritional deficiencies and preventing further relapse. "Mothers can be hopeful about their children's growth with the help of these nutritional foods," he says.

Malnutrition remains a significant challenge to child survival and development in Somalia. According to the Multi-Partner Technical Release Post Deyr Assessment and IPC Analysis released in February, acute food insecurity and malnutrition are expected to increase between April and June 2023, with 6.5 million people expected to face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse outcomes.

UNICEF continues to scale up its nutrition interventions across the country. In February, about 40,000 children were admitted for treatment of severe wasting. Thanks to funding support from the European Union, UNICEF is able to provide nutrition supplies to children with severe acute malnutrition and support outpatient treatment programmes across Somalia.

Halima signed up for the programme and immediately saw a difference in Hassan's health.

"My child is in better condition since he was given the therapeutic food," she said. "In this centre, we get other medical services such as vaccination and nutrition supplementation. I thank the NGOs for their help. They made great sacrifices for us."

Community workers like Lul Shaciye Cali played a vital role in Hassan's recovery, providing Halima with ongoing guidance and support. "We refer all cases, including malnourished children, to the centre," Lul says. "If there are emergency cases in the camps, we call for urgent medical assistance."

UNICEF is working on getting nutrition services closer to children by supporting mobile health and nutrition teams who travel on a regular basis to remote locations in Dollow and surrounding areas. Thanks to the EU-funded nutrition project, the nutrition situation in the IDP camps of Kabasa, Kansahley, and Ladan has remarkably improved. And for families like Halima's, the programme is a beacon of hope in the midst of hardship. "I am so grateful for this programme," Halima said. "It's given me hope that my child can recover and grow strong."