News Reporter
In Zimbabwe one in every three children suffers acute malnutrition as millions go without enough food to eat, Unicef has said.
Due to rising poverty, hunger levels worsened by growing inflation, about 23.5% of children up to 5 years old have stunted growth, the UN agency reveals.
In its Zimbabwe 2021 Annual Report, Unicef noted increased nutrition vulnerabilities due to poor dietary diversity. About, 12.6% of children were born underweight.
Last year Unicef reached 400 000 children with emergency nutrition response as more families go hungry, leaving little for children. About 99% of health facilities now offer wasting treatment services.
In 2020, Unicef called upon government to recognise child poverty and priorities children in food programs as hunger worsened.
Due to poor rains Zimbabwe is facing a food crisis, with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) prediction that 10 million would go hungry by September.
Children in schools have not been spared with Unicef reaching 15 000 adolescents in schools with support.
“UNICEF provided emergency nutrition response in 32 affected districts, reaching over 398,047 children and 596,157 caregivers with a package of life-saving foods and materials to support early identification and treatment of children with wasting,” the report reads.
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