India Suffers Droughts, But Doesn't Want Plumpy'nut

India's Meteorological Department has released mid-monsoon season figures indicating a nationwide rain deficit of 25%, the Indian Telegraph reports. This may significantly affect the agricultural production in India, with analysts predicting a drop of 10% in production for some regions.

Drought and floods in some areas have resulted in a 25 per cent less sowing of paddy. Agriculture ministry officials are hoping that late rains would see paddy sowing going up in August.

The cause for the lack of rain is attributed to El Nino.
In the meantime, the Indian government says that it has enough stocks from previous years to compensate for the expected losses, and that it is considering a range of actions, among others to prevent food prices from soaring.

This news coincides with the Indian government's denying UNICEF to use Plumpy'nut in combating malnourishment in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. The malnourishment is said to be worse than in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Despite the fact that WHO has accredited Plumpy'nut as ready-to-use terapeutic food (RUTF), the government does not believe in its effectiveness. Moreover, this particular kind of RUTF was not agreed upon with UNICEF. It prefers Indian alternatives, but these are still being tested and are thus not yet available.

Unicef officials said that there was no local alternative at the time and that RUTF was a medical formula, not a food, which is used to treat, rather than to prevent, malnutrition. “Children with severe acute malnutrition are at risk of imminent death and need immediate, lifesaving treatment,” Angela Walker, a Unicef spokeswoman, said. “Family foods or supplementary foods are not enough; these children need very specific treatment for their condition.” [...]
Other campaigners and experts said that a solution may lie in Indian-made RUTF, which is being produced by at least two Indian companies for export. Médecins sans Frontières, the French medical charity which treats malnutrition in Bihar and other states, said that it was testing local products and hoped to start using them by the end of the year.

Save The Children: Cash transfers crucial in tackling child mortality

A new report by Save the Children, UK, (Lasting Benefits: The role of cash transfers in tackling child mortality), released in June, highlights the benefits that cash transfers may have in reducing child mortality and lifting poor families out of poverty.

As the report indicates,

While more emphasis and resources for the development and strengthening of good-quality health systems are vital, a policy approach that concerns itself only with ‘supply-side issues’ will not succeed in dramatically reducing child mortality. A range of economic barriers prevent families from being able to protect their children from early deaths. [...]
The evidence presented here suggests that well-designed cash transfer programmes can help tackle many of the determinants of child mortality, most immediately by increasing access to healthcare and reducing malnutrition. Across a number of countries, particularly in Latin America and Africa, cash transfers have helped poor people to access food and healthcare, and to enhance the status of women (itself one of the most significant determinants of child survival). Contrary to common assumptions, cash transfers also have important positive economic benefits, helping to create livelihood opportunities, increase labour productivity and earnings, stimulate local markets, and cushion families from the worst effects of crises.

These regular cash transfers, the Lancet editorial writes, may prove crucial in realising the 4th MDG (reducing under five child mortality by two thirds).

This report touches upon an area of BRC activities supporting the SARCS to improve access to social welfare grants in South Africa.

'Children and Armed Conflicts in Africa'

The 23rd report in Centre for Conflict Resolution policy seminar reports series examines the role of various African Union (AU) organs in monitoring children's rights in conflict and post-conflict situations. It further examines their linkages to specific child rights advocacy and monitoring mechanisms.
Access this report via ReliefWeb

Report from Save the Children: 'In the Face of Disaster: Children and Climate Change'

The consensus on climate change is clear: it is already happening and is likely to lead to an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters.

The resulting impact on children is likely to be dramatic.- Malaria, currently responsible for the death of around 800,000 children under five years old in Africa each year, is set to increase. Climate change and its associated impacts also threaten to hinder the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly the commitments to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, and reduce child mortality.

Climate change will demand better disaster response and better preparedness.The United Nations (UN) estimates that for every $1 invested in risk management before the onset of a disaster, $7 of losses can be prevented.This demonstrates the case for disaster risk reduction to be mainstreamed into development planning and programming.For the millions of children who become displaced, lose a parent, become separated from their families, go hungry or become victims of exploitation because of a disaster, the status quo is not good enough.We know the international community can do much better.
To view the report, click here

Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children: Disabilities among Refugees and Conflict-Affected Populations

This report is the culmination of a six-month project commissioned by the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children and co-funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to address the rights and needs of displaced persons with disabilities, with a particular focus on women (including older women), children and youth. Based on field research in five refugee situations, as well as global desk research, the Women’s Commission sought to map existing services for displaced persons with disabilities, identify gaps and good practices and make recommendations on how to improve services, protection and participation for displaced persons with disabilities. The objective of the project was to gather initial empirical data and produce a Resource Kit that would be of practical use to UN and nongovernmental organization (NGO) field staff working with displaced persons with disabilities.

Access the report via Reliefweb.

UNICEF: The State of the World's Children 2007

In 2006, for the first time in recent history, the total number of annual deaths among children under the age of five fell below 10 million, to 9.7 million. This represents a 60 per cent drop in the rate of child mortality since 1960.

However, there is no room for complacency. The loss of 9.7 million young lives each year is unacceptable, especially when many of these deaths are preventable. And despite progress, the world is not yet on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal target of a two-thirds reduction in the rate of child mortality by 2015.

Widespread adoption of basic health interventions, including early and exclusive breastfeeding, immunization, vitamin A supplementation and the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria, are essential to scaling up progress, in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.

More needs to be done to increase access to treatment and means of prevention, to address the devastating impact of pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, severe acute malnutrition and HIV.

The report can be downloaded in pdf format from Reliefweb.

UNICEF lists the top causes of child deaths

UNICEF's recent announcement that the number of deaths of children under 5 dropped below 10 million for the first time has been widely publicised.

Less widely reported is the list of reasons for the 9.7 million child deaths which did occur in 2006:

1 NEONATAL CAUSES - 3.6 million perished in the first four weeks after birth due to complications from premature birth, severe infections, birth asphyxia, birth defects, tetanus, diarrhea-related diseases and other causes.

2. PNEUMONIA - About 1.8 million children died of pneumonia, an inflammation of the lung generally caused by an infection that is marked by a cough and difficult breathing. It kills more children than any other single disease. A number of different organisms can cause it including bacteria, viruses and fungi.

3. DIARRHEA - About 1.6 million children died from diarrheal illnesses. Severe diarrhea can cause fluid loss. It is life-threatening in children who are malnourished or have impaired immunity. Diarrhea often is caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites.

4. MALARIA - Malaria killed about 780,000 children under 5 in 2006.

5. OTHERS - Measles killed 390,000 children under 5 in 2006; AIDS killed 290,000. UNICEF also said inadequate nutrition can be considered an underlying cause in about half of the worldwide deaths under age 5.

Read more on the UNICEF website.