Children under five years of age are suffering the most in the Horn of Africa food crisis, ChildFund Australia CEO Nigel Spence said today. Children of this age are not only physically less able to cope, with malnutrition and dehydration impacting them much more rapidly, there is a serious risk of long-term physical, intellectual and psychological harm.

In Kenya, 385,000 children under five and 90,000 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are suffering from malnutrition. These women and young children are in urgent need of food, water and nutritional supplements.

“Children under five are the most vulnerable in emergency situations like this,” says Mr Spence. “Not only are they unable to protect themselves, they are most at risk of illness and death from malnutrition and dehydration, and there are serious lifelong implications of inadequate food intake at this age.

“While school-aged children can be assisted through primary schools, this younger age group often falls through the cracks,” adds Mr Spence. “ChildFund is reaching these children through early childhood centres in the communities where we work. We are also targeting pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to ensure the health of their babies.”

In the remote Turkana region of northern Kenya, one of the most inaccessible and drought-affected parts of the country, ChildFund supports 13 early childhood and development centres, assisting 2,600 children under the age of five. These centres are currently the only places providing supplementary feeding to young children in the area, and the number of children in need of assistance continues to swell dramatically. ChildFund is also supporting immunisation and deworming for all children.

In addition to providing food, water and medical support, ChildFund is working to help children and families stay in their own communities. If families are forced to uproot and leave their homes in search of food and water, children will be taken out of school and on long, arduous journeys to overcrowded camps.

“ChildFund is targeting our response in drought-affected communities across Kenya and Ethiopia, so children and families do not have to leave their homes,” says Mr Spence. “Our staff who have worked in these communities for years are telling us that food is running out and thousands of children are in danger of starvation. It is critical that aid reaches these children immediately.

“Other aid agencies are focusing their efforts on Dadaab refugee camp, where there is certainly great need, but more people will keep arriving if they are not provided with assistance where they live. ChildFund is appealing to Australians to help us keep vulnerable children living in drought-affected communities safe, healthy and in their own homes.”

To donate to ChildFund Australia’s Horn of Africa Food Crisis Appeal, visit www.childfund.org.au

For regular updates on the Horn of Africa crisis from ChildFund staff on the ground, subscribe to ChildFund Australia's blog.

To request images or an interview with Nigel Spence, please contact Jacqui Ooi, senior communications officer, on (02) 8281 3125.