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| Emergency in Congo Hundreds of thousands are fleeing, desperately seeking safety from the fighting |
| Malnutrition: Children in Peril |
| Nutrition and Food Security |
| Star Appeal: Reducing Malaria’s Deadly Toll |
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Mai Hosoi, ERTeam member in Myanmar 
Donors responded generously to our malnutrition appeal earlier this year. Thanks to you, we were able to deliver life-saving supplies of high-energy milk formula, vitamin supplements and enriched foods to children in Kenya and Darfur. But the world food crisis has added new challenges to our fight against malnutrition.
World Food Crisis
Skyrocketing prices for basic foods like rice, wheat and soya beans mean the money available to UNHCR doesn’t go as far when it comes to buying essential food for refugees. While this crisis affects all of us; in the case of refugees, who depend on food aid for survival, it can mean chronic hunger and malnutrition.
Our UN partner, the World Food Programme, reports it has lost 40% of its purchasing power. So each “food aid” dollar buys 60 cents worth of food compared with last year.
Add the dramatic hikes in the cost of fuel, drought and crop failure caused by climate change and we have an epic crisis facing those who are vulnerable to malnutrition.
Malnutrition means life-long damage to children
In many camps there is an alarming increase in chronically hungry refugees who are more prone to disease. Malnutrition is at emergency levels and UNHCR is taking steps to deal with the crisis. With emergency funding we will ensure children under two receive the right foods to avoid life-long damage to their growth and mental development. We are developing new programs to deliver the food refugees need, for instance by training them to run small scale agricultural and livestock projects.
Donor support helps the UN Refugee Agency do even more
$40 buys high-energy milk formula to feed five severely malnourished babies.
$140 buys a supply of Plumpynut to keep 30 malnourished children well for three months.
$250 provides the materials, seeds and training so 25 refugee families can cultivate a garden and produce fresh vegetables.
Nutrition and Food Security Ensuring that people have access to adequate food and safe water is essential for protecting the safety, health and well-being of refugees and other populations of concern. For this reason, UNHCR strives to improve the nutritional status of all the people it serves – mostly women and children. Where there is freedom from hunger and malnutrition, there is also hope for a better future. The right to freedom from hunger and malnutrition is backed by international conventions. Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes a child's right to enjoy the highest standards of health and health care. It also recognizes the right of all children – including refugees – to adequate nutritious food and to clean drinking water. The first Millennium Development Goal, moreover, calls for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. The goals of ensuring that refugees have access to adequate health services, food security, water and of improving their nutrition are also included in UNHCR's Global Strategic Objectives for 2007-2009. UNHCR will reach these targets in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP) and other governmental and non-governmental partners. High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has stressed the importance that UNHCR places on nutrition and health. Through partnership-building and strategic funding decisions, UNHCR is making progress toward its goal of ensuring that international nutrition standards are met for all populations receiving assistance and protection. This includes ensuring that nutrition and health activities are given priority in the Country Operations Planning budget for 2008-2009. For more information, visit the Nutrition and Food Security page on the UNHCR international website.
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Photo above: Eritrean refugee women growing vegetables on communal plot, Showak refugee camp, Sudan. © UNHCR/R.Wilkinson
