Unicef has called for urgent action from global partners to help arrest the growing burden of malnutrition among pregnant and breastfeeding girls due to drought.
Kenya is among 12 countries where the number of pregnant and breastfeeding adolescent girls and women suffering from acute malnutrition has soured by 25 per cent since 2020.
Unicef in their latest data shows the number in the 12 countries has increased to 6.9 million from 5.5 million in 2020.
The 12 countries are the hardest hit by the global food and nutrition crisis, according to Unicef.
They include Kenya, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.
Unicef warns that the ongoing crises, aggravated by ongoing gender inequality, are deepening a nutrition crisis among adolescent girls and women that had already shown little improvement in the last two decades.
“The global hunger crisis is pushing millions of mothers and their children into hunger and severe malnutrition,” Unicef executive director Catherine Russell said.
“Without urgent action from the international community, the consequences could last for generations to come."
Unicef warns that inadequate nutrition during girls’ and women’s lives can lead to weakened immunity, poor cognitive development, and an increased risk of life-threatening complications.
Such complications occur during pregnancy and childbirth with dangerous and irreversible consequences for their children’s survival, growth, learning, and future earning capacity.
“To prevent undernutrition in children, we must also address malnutrition in adolescent girls and women,” Russell added.
According to Unicef, there were 126 million more food-insecure women than men in 2021, compared to 49 million more in 2019, more than doubling the gender gap of food insecurity.
The agency calls on the government, development and humanitarian partners and donors, to prioritise adolescent girls’ and women’s access to nutritious, safe and affordable diets.
It also wants adolescent girls and women protected from ultra-processed foods through marketing restrictions, compulsory front-of-pack labeling and taxation.
