Highlights
While food security conditions have remained favorable across much of the country in recent months with food access improving as prices decline and supplies reach local markets from recent and ongoing crop harvests, they are likely to start deteriorating from July onwards in localized areas that experienced production shortfalls due to prolonged dryness and early cessation of rains. Results from the annual MVAC HEA and EFSA assessments, expected to be available by the end of July 2014, will provide a better picture on the extent of food insecurity.
Services for management of Acute Malnutrition are currently ongoing in 484 Outpatient Therapeutic (OTP) sites and 86 Nutrition Rehabilitation Units (NRU) across the 24 districts that were food insecure in the 2013/14 consumption year. An additional 1,801 children were admitted in May 2014 bringing the cumulative number of admissions to 21,423. The May 2014 data is not including 3 districts due to delays in reporting.
Violence against children in Malawi continues to be a child protection concern across the country according to a report of a study supported by UNICEF whose results were released in June 2014. UNICEF is therefore refocussing its interventions especially in areas highly prone to disasters to ensuring that these districts have increased capacity to respond to cases of violence through provision of treatment to survivors and ensuring that they have access to justice and psychosocial support.
