The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has launched an urgent appeal for US$84.9 million to fund its emergency response aimed at assisting children and women affected by the El Nino crisis in Zimbabwe.

This funding will provide life-saving interventions to 1.34 million people, including 866,000 children, amidst a complex humanitarian crisis made worse by water and food shortages. Dr Nicholas Alipui, UNICEF Representative ai in Zimbabwe said:

We are particularly concerned about the vulnerability of children in this current emergency. Decreased access to clean water and a poor diet heightens the risk of malnutrition and diarrheal diseases among children and impacts on their rights to education and protection with the full impact of these intersecting factors expected to manifest only later. Hence the need for a front-facing preventive strategy to avert excess deaths in the months to come.

The funding will help mitigate child morbidity and mortality, prevent malnutrition and provide treatment, enhance water access, ensure continuous learning for children, and protect children against abuse and exploitation. It will also help strengthen the resilience of household to deal with the crisis

The UNICEF appeal is part of the UN-interagency appeal recently launched to support the Government’s response to the emergency caused by El Nino.

Zimbabwe is experiencing an El Nino emergency impacting severely children under five years, pregnant and lactating women, and adolescents.

The country is also faced with public health emergencies related to cholera and polio and the El Nino’s induced drought is creating numerous health issues affecting children, including disease outbreaks, infectious and respiratory illnesses, and increased levels of malnutrition.

Water scarcity is expected to contribute to the spread of diarrheal and other water-scarce diseases among children exacerbated by reduced immunity in children because of malnutrition plus the risk of school dropouts and violence, and abuse and exploitation against children.

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