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Childhood Stunting Has Long-Term Effects

Childhood Stunting Has Long-Term EffectsChildhood stunting occurs when chronic malnutrition stunts a child’s growth, both physically and mentally. Over 180 million children worldwide suffer from this condition. The problem is concentrated in certain countries. In fact, 21 countries account for more than 80 percent of documented stunted growth cases.

Healthy nutrition is most important in the first five years of life.  In six countries (Afghanistan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Madagascar, East Timor, and Yemen), 50 percent or more of children under 5 years old are stunted. This number is terrifying because stunting can lower cognitive capacity for life.  Children who suffer from stunting have a reduced ability to learn.  This poor nutrition can affect future earnings and success.  Any inadequate nutrition within the first two years of life is permanent and irreversible.

Being four to six inches shorter than their peers is the most superficial concern for stunted children.  They are “five times more likely to die from diarrhea due to physiological changes in a stunted body.”  Furthermore, the typical stunted brain has fewer cells and fewer connections between cells, which means impaired functioning.

childhood stunting

Despite these numerous health effects, childhood stunting continues to receive little to no media attention.  Organizations like UNICEF work to combat malnutrition, but people do not realize the effects of this extreme malnutrition.

UNICEF and its partners provide cost-effective solutions, such as vitamin A supplements, iodized salt, and therapeutic foods.  Its famous Plumpy’nut is a peanut-based food that helps malnourished children gain up to two pounds per week.

Childhood stunting is preventable, and it is time for people to understand their effects. Numerous studies and organizations name hunger as the “gravest single threat to the world’s public health.”  The effects of hunger alter a community’s culture, economy, and overall well-being.

– Whitney M. Wyszynski

Source: TIME
Photo: Fast Company

Mozambique Uses New Technology to Fight AIDS

Mozambique Uses New Technology to Fight AIDS
In Mozambique, 11.5% of 15 to 49-year-olds are HIV positive, and half of the untreated children who are HIV positive die before they reach the age of two due to delays in diagnosis and treatment. Now, new technologies to help diagnose and assess rural, poor citizens of Mozambique are being used by three different aid organizations.

UNICEF, along with the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), have been administering new tests that will rapidly increase the speed of diagnoses in children and also test other patients’ immunity levels. The new tests do not require a high level of technology, making it easier for health workers to administer the tests in rural areas, and are able to tell workers when a patient needs to switch antiretrovirals.

Normally, the HIV tests used in Mozambique take a spot of dry blood for testing with results taking nearly two months, with some patients never returning to find out the results. In addition to taking much longer, these older testing techniques are much less accurate than the current tests. The new technology takes no longer than an hour to determine if a patient is HIV positive.

Although the new technology helps the speed of return time of diagnoses, determining whether children in Mozambique are HIV positive is still a challenge as two types of tests are needed to determine if the antibodies of a newborn are from the mother or in the child’s blood itself. Aid groups hope to increase health infrastructure in the country to have the ability to offer both types of tests to patients.

– Christina Kindlon

Source: The Guardian

UNICEF Gaining Public Support for Foreign Aid


Funding for foreign aid is an issue coming up for debate in more countries than the United States. UNICEF has begun a campaign in Australia to increase foreign aid spending. During the North Sydney electorate, the organization is urgently spreading awareness for the cause and raising public support.

Australia currently spends .35 percent of its gross national income (GNI) on foreign aid. To put that in perspective, the US donates about .2 percent and Sweden gives 1.02 percent of its GNI. UNICEF hopes to increase this percentage by going door-to-door and asking Australians to sign a petition in support of more foreign aid funding. They will deliver these petitions to election candidates.

Their campaign does not, however, exist without resistance. Tony Abbott, Opposition Leader, warned that his party would support funding for projects in Northern Territory rather than increasing foreign aid if his party did not win the majority in the federal election. Another party, the Labor Government, expressed their intentions to supersede some funding for foreign assistance programs in favor of providing financial support for “offshore processing of asylum seekers.”

Despite this opposition, volunteers for UNICEF remain enthusiastic about public support for increased foreign aid. Tess van der Rijt, a campaigner during the North Sydney electorate, was encouraged that so many people whose homes she visited were passionate about the effectiveness and necessity of foreign aid and did not want to see the program lose funding. With a lot of hard work, UNICEF may be successful in pressuring politicians to adhere to the demands of the public and increase foreign aid.

– Mary Penn

Source: Herald Sun

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UNICEF and Syria’s Lost Generation

UNICEF and Syria's Lost GenerationA lost generation of children is quite a dramatic phrase. One would expect it to define a group of children whose duress has gone unnoticed. For the children in Syria, it’s a slightly different case. As the reports of casualties are noted every day, the biggest issue should be the loss of not only physical life but the psychological well being of children and their futures. Their plight, however, is overshadowed by external, as well as internal, desires to cease political unrest and see a new regime replace al-Assad’s.

UNICEF has been working consistently both inside and outside of Syria to try to maintain some level of balance and peace in the lives of these children. By first addressing their basic needs, 4 million people who have remained in Syria now have access to clean drinking water. 1.5 million children have received vaccinations against polio and measles. And aside from the 6% of children who are currently still able to attend school, 75,000 have been lucky enough to attend ‘school clubs’ to keep up with their education. Even for the quarter-million refugee children, UNICEF has managed to extend its basic services as well as offering protection against abuse and exploitation, two things all too common in the chaotic and insecure camps.

Resources are limited, however. Despite its plea for $195 million to continue support until June of this year, the UN reports that only 20% of that requested funding has been given. About 2 months after this request, former Senator-now-Secretary of State John Kerry announced the $60 million apparent ‘non-lethal’ aid package to Syrian rebels. While terms of ‘non-lethal’ and ‘food and medical supplies’ are tossed around, there is no direct language addressing the key issues that are important to every single person and party involved directly and indirectly in this conflict.

The Secretary of State has made it clear that his goals are to support the rebels in preventing and stopping President Bashar al-Assad from staging attacks against his own people. While the US government is set on securing the future of Syria, it seems only logical that they would realize that without providing psychological services, safe havens of learning, and adequate medical facilities to Syrian children, there will be a bleak future for Syria.

The trauma and permanent damage UNICEF reports are inevitable for Syria’s lost generation. It is going to affect the politics, economy, and every aspect of their country once they become of age and replace the current generation.

Eliot Engel, the Senior Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee and Senators John McCain and Marco Rubio sat down to discuss how “providing military aid to Syria’s opposition would bring the humanitarian disaster to an end” in hopes of continuing a peaceful relationship with Syria after Assad’s rule. Engel is currently pushing for the US’s active involvement in training and arming ‘some’ rebels (although he graciously adds that humanitarian assistance will be provided as well).

Such an obvious focus on expanding the degree of fighting is not going to bring the civil war to an end. While that question requires a great deal more of serious thought, it would hopefully require a lot less hesitation to understand that the safety and education of Syria’s children, both in and outside of the country, require immediate attention and aid.

– Deena Dulgerian

Sources: UN News Centre, Yahoo News, NPR

Hilary Swank Spotted in Ethiopia

Hilary Swank Spotted in Ethiopia
Hilary Swank’s recent trip to Ethiopia was marked by revelation and promotion. UNICEF flew Swank to visit various schools and education centers that received donations directly from the organization. The funding for this project will come directly from a new campaign launched in partnership with UNICEF and legendary watch and jewelry maker Montblanc.

The campaign encompasses Montblanc’s ‘Signature for Good’ collection which premiered earlier this month. The collection includes leather products, jewelry, and pens ranging from $220 to $810. For every product sold from the collection between now and March 2014, Montblanc will donate part of the proceeds to UNICEF’s education programs, funding schools that Swank visited.

According to Hilary Swank, the chance to visit Ethiopia and see first hand the benefits of the money being donated renewed her appreciation for organizations such as UNICEF and their efforts. She commented that seeing the books and learning material that the schools were able to accumulate due to these donations was “pretty extraordinary.”

For celebrities, it seems almost too easy to make their way over to a developing country, whether its because they’re already there on set or making a charity trip. Since their every move is already accounted for by the paparazzi who wait for them at gas stations and fast-food restaurants, a trip of such a scale would most definitely create a bigger buzz in the media. For causes big and small, piggy-backing off of a celebrity’s Google search carries no shame. It gives an opportunity for the world to find out more about these corners of the world even if that wasn’t their initial intention when searching for “Hilary Swank’s teeth”.

– Deena Dulgerian
Source:Star Pulse

Political Crisis in Mali Affects Education

Political Crisis in Mali Affects Education
How does a political crisis or violent fighting within a country affect education?

For Mali, a political crisis has meant the displacement of over 700,000 students and teachers, the destruction and closing of at least 115 schools, and a large psychological impact on students from exposure to violence that must be addressed.

The political crisis in Mali began over a year ago. It puts the Mali government against Tuareg rebels and has resulted in the uprooting of a large number of residents from northern Mali and has pushed them southward, out of harms way. This uprooting has forced many children to find new schools to attend. It has also pushed teachers into finding new schools to teach in. While 500,000 out of the original 700,000 students have found new schools to attend since being displaced, there is still “an urgent need to rebuild schools, train teachers and provide learning supplies,” according to a statement made by UNICEF.  This is because many of these news schools were already facing issues with overcrowding are now operating beyond their capacities, and finding themselves unable to cope with the displayed northerners.

Malian educational authorities are working with UNICEF officials to quickly open up more schools in northern Mali. Over 1,100 Malian teachers have been trained to provide psychological support to students, as well as mine-risk education, since December. This is a big necessity because, as put by UNICEF Representative Françoise Ackermans, “when a teacher is afraid to teach and when a student is afraid to go to school, the whole education is at risk.”

Yet, education will continue to be negatively affected as long as violence progresses in the area. As of today, Mali is still highly volatile, making even walking to school dangerous. Political crises and violent fighting between two groups within a country have very serious effects on its citizens, creating far-reaching consequences. Ensuring children have access to schools ensures these children have access to knowledge, an important asset to all.

– Angela Hooks

Source: UN News Centre
Photo: Care

Flooding Disaster in Mozambique

Flooding Disaster in MozambiqueThe nation of Mozambique experienced one of the worst floods in recent history due to extremely high amounts of rainfall throughout the month of January. Flooding in Mozambique damaged the province of Gaza. Over 250,000 have been affected by the floods, with 150,000 people forced out of their homes in the province and over 100 killed.

While the victims of flooding in Mozambique are dealing with destroyed homes and families, the natural disaster has been exacerbated by the outbreak of cholera. There have been over 250 cases so far, fortunately, no cases have proved fatal. Mozambique has experienced problems with cholera for years, so their response has been effective thus far. However, the potential for more flooding means that they must remain vigilant.

The complete rebuilding effort is estimated to cost over $30 million, according to The Humanitarian Country Team in Mozambique, an organization comprised of NGO and UN officials. UNICEF itself seeks $6.8 million from this fund to pay for projects to improve the welfare of children and those around them, like building clean water pumps and constructing new homes.

According to Jesper Morch of UNICEF, “emergency supplies and funding has been depleted…we urgently need additional funds if we are to help many children and families recover.”

– Jake Simon

Sources: news24, UNICEF, Al Jazeera
Photo: Times Live

UN Delivers Sanitary Water Supplies to Syria

syria water
The conflict in Syria, which began in 2011, has left over four million people in need of humanitarian aid. The current shortage of sanitary water supplies is producing grave repercussions on children’s health. UNICEF, coordinating with other organizations including the Syrian Aran Red Crescent and the Ministry of Water Resources, is working to provide sanitary water supplies for over 10 million people.

Access to safe water supplies has grown increasingly difficult as chlorine supplies in Syria have significantly declined. Shortage of clean water greatly increases the risk of contracting water-borne diseases, including diarrhea. The effects are most detrimental to children, whose systems are not as able to bear the strain.

On February 3rd, 80 tons of sodium hypochlorite water chlorination supplies were been delivered to Syria through the Jordanian border. UNICEF will transport 1,000 tons of chlorine to regions across Syria over the coming weeks.

At the same time, the World Health Organization, co-signing an agreement with Saudi Arabia, will donate medicines and medical equipments worth $2.1 million, which will assist over 3 million people and last the period of a year.

Relieving the shortage of medicines, waste management, and the lack of clean water supplies are the three foremost steps to humanitarian aid in Syria; the international community has pledged more than $1.5 billion for this cause.

– Pimrapee Thungkasemvathana

Source: UN
Photo: Reuters