In Yemen, the majority of children look like skin and bones, yet the world doesn’t hear about it! Over 60% of population here still struggles to provide some of the most basic vital needs to their children. Especially those who live in rural areas and women are in greater disadvantage.
Khayran Al Muharraq district in Hajjah governorate is considered as the most conflict-affected area, in which a massive number of IDPs and affected host communities live. It is classified as IPC phase 4 with the highest displacement ratio and among the 193 food insecure districts.
In this district, it’s tragic to see the number of acutely malnourished children is increasing to the point where 1 member in a household is suffering from malnutrition. Khalid, a 9-month-old child with severe acute malnutrition, is a case in point. The child’s family has displaced from the war in Haradh district to Khayran district, Al-Namaghah area. Khaled has suffered from severe acute malnutrition due to the poor living condition the family has been going through. Khaled’s mother tried not to let her child lose his appetite by marking his stomach with a burning spoon, believing in the old traditional way the neighbors have advised her with.
Unfortunately, Khalid didn’t respond to this kind of treatment. On the contrary, the child’s health condition became much worst. Khaled’s mother couldn’t take him to the hospital because the treatment and transportation costs were the main barriers for the family. In Jan, 2022, RDP’s community nutrition volunteers were carrying out the screening and awareness sessions on the area. Sadly, the child’s MUAC measurement showed 10.9 so that the CNVs wrote a referral card to the nearest health facility to be enrolled under the OTP program.
The CNVs were constantly following up the case, paying 10 visits to check up Khalid’s condition for a period of 5 months until he was discharged fully recovered from malnutrition. In June 2022, Khalid has been registered in the blanket supplementary feeding program, receiving monthly sachets of Plumpy doz to prevent further deterioration of malnutrition. Thanks for the great and considerable support WFP has done to assist us with the BSFP program to help hundreds of vulnerable children in hard-to-reach areas.
