Day: August 10, 2022

This report forms part of Plan International’s Real Choices, Real Lives longitudinal, qualitative research study — which is following the lives of girls living in nine countries* around the world from their birth (in 2006), until they turn 18 (in 2024).

This unique study looks in-depth at the experiences of girls as they grow up, offering genuine insights into the choices, decisions and realities that shape their lives as well as expectations of what they can be, and do from the moment they are born.

In 2019, a set of regional reports were compiled taking an in-depth look at how — as the girls enter adolescence — they are noticing, questioning, and in some instances, rejecting expectations around their behaviour and roles across different areas of their lives. Across the three countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Togo, and Uganda), we found that all 37 girls in the study showed some level of resistance to gendered norms that determine what is expected of them as girls in their different contexts.

Further, we saw that for the girls in Benin, Togo, and Uganda:

Early adolescence is a significant period of identity formation alongside heightened awareness of gendered norms, making it a critical point for interventions to disrupt gender inequitable attitudes and practices in positive ways.

The process of questioning gendered expectations is not linear — but varies over time and in different areas of girls’ lives (i.e., at one point in time, a girl may question expectations, but later appear to conform).

Girls’ social contexts and social influences at the household and wider community level are significant in forming, or breaking, gendered social expectations — with key female role models and extended family members playing a prominent role.

In the three Sub-Saharan African countries, concerns about gender-based violence and corporal punishment were often cited as a reason for not expressing attitudes, or behaving in ways, that do not align to gendered expectations of what is appropriate.

Source: Plan International

FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

Cereal production in 2022 estimated at above‑average level

Cereal imports forecast to decline to below‑average level in 2022/23

Food prices increased in 2022, underpinned by elevated global prices

Cereal production in 2022 estimated above average

Harvesting of the 2022 main season cereal crops, consisting mostly of maize and sorghum, was completed in June. Cereal production is estimated at 80 000 tonnes, down from the bumper harvest in 2021 but still 22 percent above the five‑year average, owing to an above‑average cereal acreage. Crop yields are estimated at slightly below‑average levels, as high temperatures and low rainfall amounts in January and February 2022 – an important period for grain development, created less‑than‑ideal conditions and curbed crop productivity. Water supplies and grazing conditions for livestock were reported to be satisfactory as of June across most of the country, except for the North East District.

Cereal imports seen to decline slightly in 2022/23

The country is a net importer of cereals, mostly maize and wheat, which on average satisfy about 70 percent of the domestic needs for both food and feed. Cereal import requirements in the 2022/23 marketing year (April/March) are forecast at 370 000 tonnes, an 8 percent decline compared to the five‑year average level reflecting the large domestic production in 2022. Despite the forecast for reduced import quantities, the total import bill is expected to increase year on year in 2022/23, owing to the elevated global prices of cereals and energy. According to the latest data by Statistics Botswana, the value of cereal imports represented 20 percent of the total food bill in May 2022, compared to 15 percent in May 2021, primarily reflecting a significant increase in the cost of importing wheat, largely sourced from or through South Africa.

Food prices rise in 2022

The annual food inflation rate in June was estimated at 10 percent, up from 7 percent a year earlier. The upturn is mostly due to rising prices for transportation and food, reflecting high global prices and given the country’s net importing status for foods and fuel. Prices of bread and cereals, which account for the largest share of an average person’s calorie intake, increased by 9 percent in the 12 months to June 2022.

Localized pockets of food insecurity persist

According to the latest Botswana Vulnerability Assessment Committee (BVAC) report, released in July 2022, almost 37 000 people are in need of food assistance until at least March 2023. The current prevalence of food insecurity is close to the number estimated in the previous year.

Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Girls and women in Somalia say rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence are rising as the country faces its worst drought in 40 years.

Amid fears that pockets of the country are at risk of famine, the child rights organisation warns that girls and young women are caught in a double crisis of hunger and violence as four successive failed rains have left families and communities struggling to cope.

A third (34%) of people surveyed by the NGO in the Sool, Sanaag and Togdheer regions of Somaliland believe security risks to girls and women have increased as a result of the drought.

Risks to girls and women have increased as a result of drought

The most commonly cited dangers were rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence, child, early and forced marriage and unions and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) — all of which are classed as significant human rights violations under international law and have devastating consequences for the health and lives of girls and women.

A third (30%) also said they knew of a girl or woman who has survived sexual or gender-based violence in the last six months, a figure which is likely to be a conservative estimate given the stigma and taboo associated with disclosing sexual violence.

Sadia Allin, Plan International’s head of mission in Somalia and Somaliland, says a growing concern is that women and girls are walking long distances each day in search of water, placing them at risk of violence and harassment. Nearly half (46%) of those surveyed say they now have to walk for more than an hour each day to find water.

“As is so often the case, girls and women are bearing the brunt of this heartbreaking crisis,” she said.

“Unless humanitarian aid is urgently and immediately stepped up, we face a situation where thousands of children in Somalia will lose their lives needlessly and countless more will face other dangers and rights violations such as rape, violence and early marriage.

“We urgently need more support from donors so that we can reach more children, especially girls, and their families. The time to act is now.”

Somalis forced to flee their homes

In the first three months of this year alone, the UN estimates half a million Somalis have been forced to leave their homes because of the drought, in search of food, water, work opportunities or humanitarian assistance. This has left many families living in makeshift housing in informal settlements, often creating additional safety risks for children and women, especially girls.

The UN has warned that as the country faces a fourth consecutive failed rainy season this year, 350,000 children in Somalia could die of preventable malnutrition unless humanitarian support is urgently scaled up. The 2011 food crisis — which killed 260,000 people, half of them children — came after just two failed rainy seasons.

A separate needs assessment carried by Plan International in Sool and Sanaag regions in December last year found that children in more than half of households (59%) were already eating only two meals a day, and that one in 10 (14%) were surviving on one meal a day.

Horn of Africa in hunger crisis

Across the Horn of Africa as a whole, it is feared that up to 20 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia will go hungry this year. Food prices — which were already at a high this year because of COVID-19, conflict and climate shocks — have been pushed even higher by the conflict in Ukraine, a key global exporter of grain, sunflower oil and other staples.

More than a third (35%) of people surveyed by Plan International say they are now surviving on less than $5 per month. Another 35% estimated that their monthly income is less than $50.

In partnership with local partners Taakulo and Nafis, Plan International is providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to communities in Somalia including cash assistance, drinking water and dignity kits for adolescent girls and young women. The organisation’s funding target for famine prevention programmes in Somalia is $5 million, which is currently underfunded by $4.1 million.

Source: Plan International

GENERAL OUTLOOK

ETHIOPIA

In Ethiopia, nearly 10 million people, including 4.4 million children, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in drought-impacted areas. (UNICEF, Jul 19 2022)

Four consecutive failed rainy seasons have brought on severe drought in Ethiopia’s lowland regions of Afar, Oromia, the Southern Nations Nationalities, Peoples’ (SNNPR) and Somali regions. Water wells have dried up and millions of livestock have died, resulting in mass displacement. Malnutrition rates are increasing at an alarming rate due to the drought. Across the four drought-impacted regions, an estimated 600,000 children will require treatment for severe acute malnutrition by the end of the year. In the Somali region, there has been a 43% increase in severely acute malnutrition admissions (SAM) for under 5 children in May 2022 compared to May 2021.

KENYA

Drought conditions have persisted in ASAL counties (Arid & Semi-Arid Lands) following multiple failed successive rain seasons. This has led to conditions of severe to extreme vegetation deficit coupled with challenges of access to water. This has led to increased trekking distances to water points and grazing sites for livestock, leading to worsening livestock body condition scores and mortalities in some pockets of Garissa, Wajir, Marsabit, Isiolo, and Mandera.

The trend in the distance trekked by livestock in search of water sources from grazing areas, compared to the previous month, has continued to worsen across most counties.

74% of counties were above the Long Term Average with most counties being on a declining trend.

SOMALIA

The drought emergency has worsened. 7.7 million people, or about half of the population, require humanitarian or protection aid. At least 7 million people have been affected by the drought, with 918,000 displaced in search of water, food, and pasture, including members of minority groups. Available reports point to a reasonable chance that famine may occur in 17 districts if crop and livestock production fails, food prices continue to climb, and humanitarian aid is not sustained to reach the most vulnerable populations.

The number of districts under Operational Priority Area (OPA) 1 has increased from 26 to 34 due to a spike in the number of people facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 5). There is need for urgent humanitarian assistance to be scaled up to avert catastrophic hunger & starvation.

Source: Action Against Hunger USA

This week’s feature shows some of the ways that contributions to WHO are helping save the lives of children, from those caught in an historic drought in the Horn of Africa to those fleeing war in Ukraine.

Read also about the battle to end pediatric HIV, malaria and noma, stop polio, prevent drowning, and promote breastfeeding and vaccination.

Protect and promote breastfeeding, leaders urge

Breastfeeding provides a ready, nutritious food source for babies, and governments should use their resources to support it, WHO and UNICEF urged during World Breastfeeding Week in August.

The two organizations called upon countries and other stakeholders to make policies that provide mothers with the time, space and support they need to breastfeed.

WHO points out the special resource breastfeeding provides in emergency situations, where food might be more difficult to obtain.

Read about World Breastfeeding Week activities in: Malawi, Somalia, Tajikistan

Ramping up the polio response in Africa

Mass-vaccination campaigns are under way in southern Africa after a case of wild poliovirus was detected earlier this year in Malawi.

“This is a dangerous disease with no cure, but full vaccination can prevent paralysis,” said Dr Modjirom Ndoutabe, Polio Programme Coordinator at WHO’s Regional Office for Africa. “We are supporting these five countries (Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to deliver quality and effective vaccination campaigns, which will safeguard children and stamp out the virus.”

WHO’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee agreed at a June meeting that the risk of international spread of poliovirus remains a public health emergency of international concern; a young adult was diagnosed with polio recently in the United States (the state of New York), and hospitalized with paralysis.

Read: Ending polio in Somalia and Mopping up polio in Zambia

WHO calls on global community to “do one thing” to stop drowning

For World Drowning Prevention Day (25 July), WHO recommended six ways to prevent drowning: building barriers around water, training rescuers, teaching swimming and water safety at school, providing day care, enforcing boating, shipping and ferry regulations, and doing better at managing flood risks.

Free vaccinations for Ukrainian refugees in Moldova

Since the first day of the war, the Republic of Moldova has been providing free health and immunization services to Ukrainian refugees. As of mid-July, more than 1000 doses of routine vaccines had been administered to refugee children. The shots protect against measles, mumps, rubella and other childhood illnesses.

Also read about Germany’s US$ 4.6 million contribution for childhood and COVID-19 vaccinations in Somalia.

Alliance launched to end AIDS in children by 2030

The Global Alliance for Ending AIDS in Children by 2030 was introduced this month at the International AIDS Conference in Montreal to reignite the fight against HIV in children.

“The wide gap in treatment coverage between children and adults is an outrage,” UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said. “Through this alliance, we will channel that outrage into action. By bringing together new, improved medicines, new political commitment, and the determined activism of communities, we can be the generation who end AIDS in children. We can win this – but we can only win together.”

The Alliance, made up of health organizations, civil society and Member States, has introduced a four-pronged plan of treatment, prevention, testing and protecting human rights to push toward its 2030 goal.

In Somalia: “Our lives have changed thanks to the water we now have in our camp.”

WHO’s recent repair of boreholes in Somalia has brought access to clean drinking water to nearly 20 000 people. Clean water means fewer waterborne diseases like cholera and diarrhoea, healthier populations, and better sanitation.

The United Nations General Assembly has recognized access to water and sanitation as a human right.

Read about WHO’s funding appeal for the humanitarian crisis in the Greater Horn of Africa.

Historic funding to expand roll-out of malaria vaccine in Africa

The world’s first mass vaccination against malaria was brought a step closer in July as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance opened a process for countries to apply for funding to roll out the new vaccine.

Nearly US$ 160 million in international support will fund the effort.

WHO recommended the new vaccine in 2021 after a two-year pilot programme showed it could save tens of thousands of children every year when used in conjunction with mainstay malaria-fighting tools such as insecticide-treated bed nets.

Malaria is a leading cause of childhood illness and death in sub-Saharan Africa, killing more than 260 000 children under the age of five every year.

Nigeria seeks to eliminate a severe and often-lethal mouth disease

WHO and other organizations are helping Nigeria develop its capacity to fight back against noma, a disfiguring and often fatal mouth and face infection whose sufferers tend to be malnourished children living in extreme poverty.

Construction on a 100-bed hospital began in May in Abuja, and hundreds of health workers are receiving training to tackle noma. In July, OpenWHO launched an online noma course for health workers.

“This disease is still not very well known in our communities, including among health care workers who often mistake it for cancer or other illnesses. But I am optimistic that this is beginning to change,” said Dr Shafiu Isah, chief Medical Director at the Sokoto Noma Children’s Hospital in northwest Nigeria. “With the help of other stakeholders, I think we are getting there.”

Support for the activities comes from the German non-profit Hilfsaktion Noma e.V., the Noma Aid Nigeria Initiative, Médecins Sans Frontières and WHO.

Source: World Health Organization