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UN PhotoUNICEF / GAZA ACUTE MALNUTRITION
STORY: UNICEF / GAZA ACUTE MALNUTRITION
TRT: 2:37
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ARABIC/ NATS
DATELINE: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
14 MARCH 2024, RAFAH, GAZA STRIP
1. Various shots, children eating energy and high protein biscuits in tents, woman preparing smashed biscuits with some milk and water for her children
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Asma Hashim, Palestinian:
“My daughter suffers from malnutrition. Before the war, I used to feed her fruits and vegetables, but now I cannot provide or find any fruits and vegetables. I used to give her high energy biscuits. But now they are also very expensive, and we cannot afford buying them.”
3. Various shots, children eating energy and high protein biscuits in tents
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Samira Sabita, Palestinian:
“Feeding my son is very difficult, He is a year and a half old. His body is weak, and he needs nutritional supplements like vitamins and calcium. My child is suffering from malnutrition during this period. He is 1.5 years old and weighs 8.5 kilograms which is below the normal weight for his age. He needs vitamins, especially vitamin D.”
07 MARCH 2024, GAZA CITY
5. Various shots, family eating
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yousef, Palestinian:
“I leave early in the morning and return before noon, avoiding bombings and shootings. My mother taught us long time ago the difference between each plant, and over time, we started to recognize them. My father had an eye injury at work and now he is blind. And my mother cannot walk without a walker since she was injured. My two oldest brothers got killed. And now, I am the one taking care of the house and trying to find something to eat. I sacrifice my life to bring something to eat. I try to bring half a kilo of flour home to make five pieces of bread. Each of us eats half a piece of bread.”
03 MARCH 2024, GAZA CITY
7. Various shots, man collecting some sticks, carrying two plastic containers of water and getting back to his shelter and cooking
According to UNICEF, acute malnutrition has doubled in one month in the north of Gaza strip.
1 in 3 children under 2 years of age are today acutely malnourished in the north, according to nutrition screenings conducted by UNICEF and partners.
31 percent - or 1 in 3 children under 2 years of age – in the Northern Gaza Strip suffer from acute malnutrition, a staggering escalation from 15.6 percent in January.
Malnutrition among children is spreading fast and reaching devastating and unprecedented levels in the Gaza Strip due to the wide-reaching impacts of the war and ongoing restrictions on aid delivery.
At least 23 children in Northern Gaza Strip have reportedly died from malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks, adding to the mounting toll of children killed in the Strip in this current conflict – about 13,450 reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Nutrition screenings conducted by UNICEF and partners in the north in February found that 4.5 percent of the children in shelters and health centers suffer from severe wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, which puts children at highest risk of medical complications and death unless they receive urgent therapeutic feeding and treatment, which is not available.
The prevalence of acute malnutrition among children under 5 years of age in the north has increased from 13 percent to as high as 25 percent.
Screenings conducted for the first time in Khan Younis, in the middle area of the Gaza Strip, found 28 percent of children under 2 years have acute malnutrition, more than 10 percent of which have severe wasting.
Even in Rafah, the southern enclave with the most access to aid, the results from screenings among children under 2 years doubled from 5 percent who were acutely malnourished in January to about 10 percent by the end of February, with severe wasting rising fourfold from 1 percent to more than 4 percent over the month.
UN agencies have been warning of the risk of a famine in the Gaza Strip since December. In January, the emergency thresholds for acute malnutrition in children were exceeded.
Acute malnutrition among children has continued to rise rapidly and at scale and there is a high risk it will continue to increase across the Gaza Strip, costing more lives, in the absence of more humanitarian assistance and the restoration of essential services.
UNICEF has reached children with treatment for acute malnutrition, including the use of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), Ready to Use Infant Formula and preventative micronutrients supplements containing iron and other essential nutrients for pregnant women.
More supplies are due to arrive this week, but this is still not enough to address the needs.
