Emergency nutrition and water supplies were airlifted to Baidoa, Bay Region yesterday by UNICEF in an effort to relieve the southern Somali situation.
According to yesterday’s UNICEF press release, “Over half a million children in Somalia are acutely malnourished and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.”
UNICEF Representative to Somalia, Rozanne Chorlton reported that “Yesterday UNICEF airlifted to Baidoa 5 metric tons of essential nutrition supplies, including therapeutic food and medicine to treat severely malnourished children, and equipment to supply clean water to the camp for displaced people in Baidoa. Health supplies are also en-route via Mogadishu, consisting of health kits with essential medicines to treat common childhood illnesses, such as respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, minor injuries and worm infestation, for 10 health facilities to reach up to 100,000 people over a period of 3 months.”
According to UNICEF, Children are most at risk in this situation, as malnutrition can affect a child’s physical and intellectual development while lower their immune system, making them more susceptible to disease.
UNICEF annouced that it will continue its services in over 500 therapeutic and supplementary feeding centers for treating acutely malnourished children, but also plans to increase its relief efforts to address the worsening situation in southern Somalia.