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Malnutrition Crisis

Almost 8 million children are at risk of dying from severe malnutrition without immediate treatment. That's one child every 60 seconds in 15 crisis-hit countries.

Although families are doing all they can, the challenges of conflict and extreme weather conditions are proving too much to bear. The war in Ukraine is causing food prices to soar, while worldwide devastating floods and persistent droughts continue to drive up children’s food and nutrition insecurity. This is culminating into catastrophic levels of severe malnutrition in children under five.  

UNICEF is on the ground, fearlessly delivering life-saving supplies and therapeutic food to children who need them most. And when emergency strikes, UNICEF can deliver help to children in just 48 hours.

Every fearless delivery starts with you. Help take away a child's fear of hunger by making a donation today. 

Delivering life-saving supplies to children who need it most, no matter what.

Happy Child in Syria carrying UNICEF supplies home

Fearless delivery

Every fearless delivery starts with you. With your support, UNICEF teams can go the distance to reach the most vulnerable, and remote children, no matter where they are or what they face.

Fearlessly Deliver Life-Saving Supplies

The escalating global food crisis is forcing one additional child to suffer from malnutrition every minute. Please help us deliver life-saving supplies such as therapeutic milk and food to children in need.

Somalia on the brink of famine

Right now, children across Somalia are experiencing the devastating effects of severe drought caused by four consecutive failed rainy seasons. Combined with increased conflict within the region and soaring food prices, their humanitarian situation is dire. 

Nearly 6.7 million people across Somalia are projected to be acutely food insecure by December 2022, and an estimated 54.5 per cent of children in Somalia are expected to suffer acute malnutrition by June 2023.

Drought, looming hunger and the resurgence of armed conflict have led to forced displacement. And with many children and their families relying on untreated water from shallow wells and drought-affected rivers, there are increasing concerns for public health as cholera cases spike

The children of Somalia need your help now. 

Fearlessly delivering for children like Obsinale in Somalia

A toddler girl holds onto a bed at a Stablisation Centre in Somalia while looking at the camera and smiling. © UNICEF/UN0663254/Sewunet

In Somalia, one-year-old Obsinale is recovering from malnutrition in a local hospital’s Stabilisation Centre. She came here with her twin sister who was recently discharged after making a full recovery.

The drought in Somalia is forcing millions of children like Obsinale and her twin sister to starve. The beds are full at the Stabilisation Centre and children are starting to be admitted on the floor.

With the drought continuing and threat of cholera and measles growing, children in Somalia are now facing deadly risks. Unless we can identify and treat them, many children suffering from severe wasting will die. Wasting occurs when a child experiences rapid weight loss because of a sudden lack of food. In Somalia, and across the Horn of Africa, this is a crisis on the brink of a catastrophe.

UNICEF is on the ground providing life-saving treatment and supplies, but it is not enough. We need your help to urgently deliver more supplies like Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and treatment.

"Today in Somalia, every single minute of every single day, a child is admitted to a health facility for treatment of severe acute malnutrition. In a country where access to the most vulnerable is continually hampered by terrorism and threats to aid workers, we fear many thousands more children are not reaching the support they need. Without greater action and investment, we are facing the death of children on a scale not seen in half a century."

James Elder
UNICEF Spokesperson

1 in 3

Children under five worldwide are affected by malnutrition.

80%

UNICEF procures and distributes an estimated 75-80 per cent of the world’s Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).

We’re working around the clock to deliver life-saving supplies to children who need it most

Send help to children suffering from malnutrition

Your donation could help deliver life-saving supplies

  • 14 cans of therapeutic milk for $90, to provide urgently needed nourishment for infants.
  • Life-saving therapeutic food for $142 to bring two severely malnourished children back to health.
  • For $278 we can supply over 53,000 water purification tablets to children and their families. 
$1

    How do we use each dollar donated?

  • 82¢
    last year, 82 cents went directly to program expenditure and community education, including long-term development and emergency response work.
  • 13¢
    last year, 13 cents covered the essential costs of raising public awareness and fundraising to generate more support for UNICEF’s work.
  • 5¢
    last year, 5 cents were spent on UNICEF Australia’s accountability and administration.
A young child receives therapeutic food to treat malnutrition
© UNICEF/UN0686577/Abdalrasol

Fearlessly Deliver Life-Saving Supplies

The escalating global food crisis is forcing one child to suffer from malnutrition every minute. Please help to provide life-saving supplies.

Looking for other ways to support children with malnutrition?