Michele Servadei, UNICEF Libya Representative said that after the nutrition SMART survey in Libya, UNICEF estimated that 32,000 children are severely, and acutely malnourished. “We could treat them all and build system capacity to screen and treat with about $3.5 million dollars. We need your support.”
In a thread on its Twitter account, UNICEF Libya noted that the first nutrition assessment was conducted to determine the nutritional status of mothers and children under the age of five.
“The Bureaus of Statistics and Census and Primary Health Care Institute, supported by UNICEF Libya, the Action Against Hunger, and the World Food Programme (WFP) concluded the efforts in December.”
“UNICEF Libya presented the preliminary results of the National SMART Nutrition Survey, together with government key partners: Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Health, Primary Health Care Institute (PHCI), Bureau of Statistics and Census (BSC),” it added.
According to UNICEF, the findings of the assessment will make it easier to establish a program in Libya that is based on evidence, to prevent all types of malnutrition, and achieving goals related to national and global agendas for nutrition and wellness.
It clarified that the principal findings are:
• Global Acute Malnutrition rate prevalence: 3.8%
• Southern region 6.1% which falls under alert the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification
• With this rate of Global Acute Malnutrition, 31,824 children are already acutely malnourished & in need of nutrition support.
Libya has been in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The county has for years been split between rival administrations, each backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The current stalemate grew out of the failure to hold elections in December, and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, who is leading the transitional government, to step down. In response, the country’s eastern-based Parliament appointed a rival Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli.