UNICEF NZ (UN Children’s Fund)
Media Release

Race to Prevent Second Wave of Deaths in the Horn of Africa
- UNICEF NZ Emergency Appeal www.unicef.org.nz or 0800 800 194 -

One hundred days have passed since famine was declared in parts of southern Somalia and against a backdrop of conflict UNICEF (UN Children’s Fund) and partners are doing their utmost to prevent a second, potentially more devastating, wave of deaths from disease.

"The current rains will bring some relief to drought-affected areas in Somalia and neighbouring countries. They however also increase the risk of disease outbreaks and hamper the distribution of aid,” said Elhadj As Sy, UNICEF’s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa.

“Escalating fighting across the South of Somalia is also making it even more difficult for our partners to safely deliver life-saving support to children and their families. UNICEF will expand its efforts to reach children wherever they are and minimize the impact of the deteriorating situation. We appeal to our donors to ramp up their invaluable support," he added.

In Mogadishu, a UNICEF and WHO-supported measles vaccination campaign began this week for 750,000 children between six months and 15 years old. Since the declaration of famine in July, more than 1 million children have been vaccinated against measles in Somalia.

"Across the country, tens of thousands of children have died in past months, and hundreds more die every day. Any delay or disruption in the delivery of assistance is a matter of life and death," said Sikander Khan, UNICEF’s Representative in Somalia.

"I urge all parties to the conflict to meet their moral and legal obligation to provide safety and security to children and women already facing a disaster,” he added, from Nairobi.

Severely malnourished children are 9 times more likely to die from infectious diseases such as measles, cholera and malaria than healthy children. Measles cases have increased dramatically this year – in July, when famine was first declared, there were more than 7 times as many measles cases than the same month in 2010.

Large numbers of people on the move, extremely overcrowded camps for displaced people, low immunity and poor water and sanitation infrastructure are also major risks. The onset of the rainy season generally leads to spikes in the number of people suffering from water-borne diseases such as acute watery diarrhoea and malaria. The disease caseload is also high in neighbouring Kenya, where there is an outbreak of dengue fever.

Fighting and heightened security in the border area have led to a significant decrease in the number of Somali refugees crossing into Kenya to 100 people during the week 17 to 23 October compared to 3,400 in the previous week.

Despite the temporary suspension of all but life-saving humanitarian activities in the refugee camps at Dadaab in Northeast Kenya (following the abduction of two aid workers) UNICEF is committed to continuing support for severely malnourished and ill children as well as providing safe water, education and protection services through its partner organizations.

Since the declaration of famine on July 20, almost 110,000 severely malnourished children were treated at UNICEF-supported centres across the region. More than 2.6 million people were provided with access to safe water and over 1.5 million were reached with hygiene awareness and supplies. Since July, 8,700 metric tons of life-saving supplies were delivered by air, land or sea to South and Central Somalia.

The international community’s response since the famine declaration was tremendous,” said As Sy. “But the magnitude of the crisis is such that we are far from reaching every child.”

UNICEF’s Horn of Africa appeal for operations in 2011 was US $425 million. The need for 2012 will still be in the hundreds of millions and contributions will be urgently needed so that feeding programmes can assist children and their families in need without any break.

For Somalia alone, UNICEF needs US$300 million in 2012 to ensure the current level of support and to scale up where needed. “We need to get these funds as early as possible to secure the pipeline of critical supplies keeping children alive,” said Khan.

Life-saving measures are not expensive with a packet of therapeutic food costing just 70 cents. Please donate now at www.unicef.org.nz or call 0800 800 194

About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence.

The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.

UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Every $1 donated to us is worth at least $10 in the field thanks to the way we work in partnership with governments, local NGOs and other partners - www.unicef.org.nz

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