It has been almost one year since the massive earthquake struck Haiti. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) just issued a series of reports highlighting its relief to reconstruction efforts in Haiti. This first report focuses on child nutrition.
Here is the full text of the nutrition report:
Before the January 12 earthquake, a large part of WFP’s work in Haiti was directed at mothers and young children - the most vulnerable from a nutritional point of view. Chronic malnutrition among children under 5, micronutrient deficiencies among pregnant and lactating women, and primary school students represent an ongoing challenge for the Government, the International Community, Donors, UN agencies and NGOs.
As many as 31.7 % of children are affected by chronic malnutrition Surveys show that half of pregnant women and two thirds of children under five are affected by anaemia. Some 72 per cent of children aged 6–12 in rural areas suffer from iodine deficiency.
According to the Haiti Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA II) carried out in June 2010, 5% of children 6 - 59 months are acutely malnourished, i.e. had low MUAC (Mid Upper Arm Circumference, below 125mm).
---In the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners launched a Blanket Supplementary Feeding programme to all children aged 6-59 months old and pregnant and lactating women living in camps in Port au Prince. 88,000 people were reached within the first six weeks of the activity.
--- A nutrition survey conducted in May 2010 in earthquake-affected areas revealed that coordinated interventions, including blanket supplementary feeding, helped avoid a nutritional crisis in Haiti.
--- As Haiti transitions from emergency response to recovery, WFP is working jointly with the Ministry of Health and Population, UNICEF, WHO and the Nutrition Cluster to develop and implement a nutrition strategy with the objective of preventing a significant rise in the rates of malnutrition through a combination of prevention and treatment activities.
---The nutrition strategy calls for the treatment and prevention of moderate acute malnutrition by providing nutritional supplements to children aged 6-59 months, as well as pregnant and lactating women in the earthquake affected zones, in areas that have received a massive influx of people, and in any other area identified as food insecure.
---Products used in the nutrition programme include fortified peanut paste (Supplementary Plumpy), fortified corn soya blend, and micronutrient powder.
---In 2010, WFP has provided nutritional assistance to 450,000 children under 5 and pregnant and lactating women.
---This is done according to the National Protocol for the Treatment of Acute Malnutrition.
--- In the greater Port-au-Prince area, agreements for the implementation of nutrition activities have been signed with 10 national and international organizations. WFP’s sub-offices are expanding implementation of nutrition activities country-wide. HIV/ Tuberculosis
---WFP is providing food assistance to Haitians living with HIV and/ or tuberculosis.
--- Currently, 91,000 people receive help through this programme.
For more information about WFP's mission in Haiti, including the need for funding, please visit their Haiti operations page.
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