Donate online
	Donate by phone on 0800 316 5353
	Donate by post
	Make a regular gift
	Emergency alert (60k)

The humanitarian situation in Malawi remains very serious due to a deadly combination of chronic poverty, bad weather conditions, poor harvest, high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and cholera outbreaks.

According to current estimates, 4.5 million people, out of a population of 12 million, will be in need of food assistance until the end of March 2006. Years of successive drought have caused a poor harvest this year: the production of maize, Malawi’s staple crop, has decreased by 29 per cent. Prices have risen too, pushing the crop further beyond the reach of most of the population.

As in any crisis, it is children who are the most vulnerable. Estimates indicate that children under the age of five and pregnant women account for one million of those affected by the food shortage. Admissions of severely malnourished children to Nutrition Rehabilitation Units (NRUs) are already 30 per cent higher than this time last year and are expected to triple in months to come.

The country has an extremely high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Some 400,000 children under 15 years of age have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Malawi, many of them are now being cared for by relatives who themselves already struggle to make ends meet.

The risk of cholera outbreaks remains a major threat as the country moves toward the rainy season in November. Food shortages and malnutrition have a direct impact on people’s susceptibility to diseases, therefore the level of coming epidemics will be directly related to people’s access to food and safe water.

Through the provision of nutrition supplies, drugs, training and technical assistance UNICEF is supporting the treatment of up to 3,500 severely malnourished children a month. We are also providing drugs and supplies to help reduce cholera and measles outbreaks, and supporting school feeding which helps to keep 500,000 children healthy and in school.

UNICEF is working with the Government of Malawi to address the immediate humanitarian needs of children in Malawi and also minimise the likelihood of another food shortage next year.

UNICEF is appealing for £7 million to support life-saving activities for children, particularly in the area of nutrition. To date, 83 per cent of the appeal remains unfunded.