Highlights
UNICEF is contributing to an ongoing Vulnerability Assessment that will provide data on the magnitude and locations of malnutrition cases countrywide, and will identify water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) needs among the affected population.
In April, UNICEF in partnership with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the World Bank, completed a screening exercise to assess the impact the drought is having on nutrition and HIV in the country. A total of 6,806 children and 1,737 pregnant and lactating women were screened for malnutrition, with 41 children under 5 years identified with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and referred to treatment programmes.
UNICEF is targeting 69,000 children through its Cash Grant Top Up response, which will begin in mid-May 2016.
UNICEF received US $2.4 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), for drought response which will significantly enhance the response in the sectors of WASH, nutrition and social protection.
Situation in Numbers
310,015 Children Affected
64,141 Children under 5 children affected
69,000 Vulnerable children in need of social safety nets
534,508 People currently at risk of food insecurity up to June 2016
725,000+ People likely to be affected from June 2016
UNICEF Appeal 2016
US $9,134,030
Funding gap
73%
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
Intermittent summer rains in April have given some relief to the drought crisis in Lesotho. However, communities continue drinking untreated water from unprotected water sources, due to severe declines in recharge of aquifers and springs. Lesotho’s Rapid Drought Impact Assessment in February 2016 found that 56 per cent of people are using unprotected water sources and up to 83 per cent of survey responders indicated that they are dissatisfied with the available water quality. This scarcity in access to potable water is expected to worsen during the upcoming winter, which is predicted to be drier than normal (Lesotho Meteorological Service, April 2016).
Following the higher use of unprotected water sources, MoH data shows a peak of 462 cases of bloody diarrhoea reported in February (MoH outbreak alert threshold is 71), with a trend of reduction from February to present, in line with the end of the ‘diarrhoea season’. UNICEF is working with WHO to resolve current shortfalls in data collection and diarrhoea diagnosis, demonstrated by incomplete records for March and April. The MoH is advising that there is a standby alert in place for outbreaks as a precautionary measure.
UNICEF in partnership with the MoH and World Bank, has completed a screening exercise on the impact the drought is having on nutrition and HIV. A total of 6,806 children and 1,737 pregnant and lactating women were screened for malnutrition. The proportion of children screened represents 6.3 per cent of the 107,558 children under 5 years planned for screening, and 7.6 per cent of the 22,855 pregnant and lactating women targeted for the screening in 2016. Logistical challenges and heavy rains have limited the numbers reached during the screening exercise. To date, through the screening programme, 0.6 per cent of children were found to have SAM, while 2.2 per cent of children were found to be moderately malnourished. In addition, 8.2 per cent of the pregnant and lactating women screened were found to be moderately malnourished.
Data from health facilities for 2015/2016, gathered by community health workers, was also reviewed, and findings show that the proportion of children acutely malnourished is below 1 per cent for SAM and below 5 per cent for global acute malnutrition (GAM). The exception was in January and February 2015, where 5.23 per cent and 7.61 per cent of the total children screened were malnourished. The data also indicated a general decline in cases of acute malnutrition as indicated in the figure below. In May, complete National GAM rates will be available from the Lesotho Vulnerability Assessment Committee report.
The Government of Lesotho is currently conducting a countrywide exercise to enable the disbursement of the National Disaster Management Fund (DMF) of US $10 million. UNICEF is providing assistance to the government with this programme, and is also procuring nutrition and WASH commodities through the Disaster Management Authority (DMA) Sectors.