14-month-old Rifa fell sick at three months old and lost weight rapidly, leading to severe acute malnutrition.
Hunger is tightening its grip on Rohingya children
Right now, children in the Rohingya refugee camps are fighting for their lives.
In Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, more than one million refugees – over half of them children – are trapped in a growing child survival crisis in the world’s largest refugee camp.
The number of children needing emergency treatment for severe acute malnutrition has surged by 27 per cent. Over 15 per cent of children are malnourished, dangerously thin, and weak – the highest level of malnutrition since 2017.
Those most severally malnourished are 11 times more likely to die without immediate treatment.
These children are 100 per cent dependent on aid – but that aid is shrinking. Funding cuts have already threatened the permanent closure of schools, which would strip nearly 150,000 children of safety and protection.
UNICEF is still delivering life-saving nutrition care, safe water, education and protection every day, helping thousands survive. But without urgent support, more children will suffer – or die.
Please donate now. Lives cannot wait.
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Baby Noor received life-saving help from UNICEF provided by people like you.
UNICEF support is helping – but much more is needed
Last year, thanks to our supporters, UNICEF provided life-saving treatment to nearly 12,000 children under the age of five suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Of those treated, 92 per cent recovered, but without urgent and sustained intervention, severe acute malnutrition can be fatal.
In recent months, UNICEF has also stepped up its response to provide safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, reaching over half of the population in the camps to prevent disease outbreaks and health-related issues. But in comparison to last year, skin diseases such as scabies due to poor sanitation have increased by 24 per cent, affecting half a million people living in the camps.
With support from people like you, UNICEF is working tirelessly across the Rohingya refugee camps to reach malnourished children before it’s too late. But if current trends continue, over half a million children living in the camps risk facing lifelong development delays, loss of childhood, or death.
The situation unfolding is a child survival crisis. They need your help now.
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Morium and her one-year-old son Isa fled horrific violence.
“Without this help, my child wouldn’t have gotten better”
Morium and he husband fled horrific violence in Myanmar carrying their two young children, eventually arriving in the overcrowded refugee camp in Bangladesh.
“In Myanmar, we had very little food, so I could only breastfeed my son. He was thin and struggled to eat or drink,” says Morium. “They burned our homes and chased us away, so we came here.”
Soon after arriving in the refugee camp, Morium brought one-year-old Isa to a UNICEF nutrition facility, where he was diagnosed with severe wasting – the deadliest form of malnutrition.
Isa received ready-to-use therapeutic food provided by UNICEF supporters like you. She has since made a full recovery.
“Without this help, my child wouldn’t have gotten better,” she says. “I’m happy to see him gaining weight and doing well. I want him to grow up healthy and get a proper education.”
Despite ongoing efforts, malnutrition remains a deadly problem in the Rohingya refugee camps.
Thousands of more children like Isa need help today.
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Help save children today
You can send life-saving aid to Rohingya refugee children threatened by malnutrition and disease in overcrowded camps.
Other Ways to Donate
You can make a donation by phone by calling 01 878 3000, from Monday to Friday between 9:00 – 5:30pm.
You can send your donation by post to Freepost; UNICEF Ireland, 33 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin D01 R283.
In the unlikely event that the funds raised exceed UNICEF’s funding requirements for this appeal, your donation will be directed to where the need is greatest.