SSHAP convened and hosted a virtual roundtable discussion with partners engaged at the regional level response of the health and food insecurity crisis in the Greater Horn of Africa region. The objective was to discuss the critical needs for the response to the Horn of Africa crisis.
In emergency situations, older people may find it hard to access food. For example, when they are displaced, older people may face difficulties in registering for the general food rations, meet challenges in accessing food distributions and difficulties transporting the food. This document provides general guidance for the implementation of emergency nutrition activities ensuring the inclusion of older people and addressing their specific needs.
Its primary target is humanitarian actors working in the field – no specific knowledge of nutrition is assumed.While the guidance recognises the connection between nutritional wellbeing, food security and health care it does not provide guidance on programming in these areas. These can be found in other HelpAge documentation. At both global and field level, this guidance can also be used to highlight and advocate for the nutrition needs of older people in humanitarian crisis.
Since the implementation of the mVisa program, refugees overwhelmingly believe malnutrition rates are as high as they have ever been in Gihembe, that the same illnesses abound, but that there is less excrement – or watery diarrhea – visible in the residential quarters.
Their rationale: when there is less food to eat, there is less food to excrete. Refugees are constantly left pondering how to improve themselves, their lives, their health and futures.
This plan aims to reinforce community resilience to food insecurity by strengthening the following areas: access to and availability of food; household food security and nutrition and livelihoods; community-based disaster risk reduction; access to safe water and hygiene, and health awareness.
The plan will unite and support the efforts of partners and contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2, to end hunger and achieve food security, as well as priority actions of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.