IWIC Project

Yemen is facing one of the greatest famine in history and children are amongst the most impacted by it. According to the UN OCHA, “A child under the age of five dies every 10 minutes of preventable causes”- UN Humanitarian Chief.

The rate of children malnutrition in Yemen is one of the highest in the world. With 2.3 million cases of children under the age of five suffering from acute malnutrition are estimated, including 360,000 from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

Amongst those impacted are also 1.2 million pregnant or breastfeeding women who are in need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition. More than 1 million pregnant women are at risk of acute malnutrition; this number could double if preventative measures aren’t taken.

Project IWIC was created to improve the health of pregnant mothers, infants, and children that are suffering from malnutrition in Yemen.

This project provides mothers and their children with nutrition packages needed to prevent malnutrition. With constructed monthly nutrition packages project IWIC aims to nourish the most deprived regions of Yemen and empower families in building a healthy future for themselves.

Lise Grande, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, said the UN had been warning since July that Yemen was on the brink of a catastrophic food security crisis. 

“If the war doesn’t end now, we are nearing an irreversible situation and risk losing an entire generation of Yemen’s young children”, she said in a statement. 
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA), told the Geneva briefing that Yemen needed help.  

“What can the world do right now? We have been warning for several months now that Yemen was heading towards a cliff. We are now seeing the first people falling off that cliff. Those are the children under five years of age. One hundred thousand of them are at risk of death, we are told. The world can help. The world can help by supporting the humanitarian response plan”, Mr. Laerke said.   

• Reduce fetal deaths and infant mortality by making sure mother is nourished during pregnancy.
• Reduce low birthweight rates
• Increase the duration of pregnancy
• Improve the growth of nutritionally at-risk infants and children.