Burma - Emergency Nutrition and Health Care - Save the Children Canada 2014

March 2014 - In the state of Rakhine over one million people - more than 140 000 of whom are living in temporary or make-shift shelters - are still suffering the consequences of inter-community violence that erupted in 2012. In addition to the on-going fear and mistrust between communities some of the challenges facing the internally displaced people and the host communities include: lack of trained medical staff high malnutrition rates increased risk of water-borne diseases and obstructed freedom of movement. Members of the Muslim Rohingya community are particularly vulnerable. With DFATD’s support Save the Children Canada is increasing access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities improving maternal health and improving the nutrition of displaced children under-five years old in Rakhine. Project activities include: (1) providing safe drinking water sanitation facilities and hygiene kits to 10 173 conflict-affected people; (2) providing antenatal care to pregnant women training traditional birth attendants and clean delivery kits as well as newborn kits to mothers benefitting 12 000 conflict-affected people; and (3) providing screening and treatment of cases of severe acute malnutrition for 19 545 conflict-affected children under-five years old in targeted areas.

The expected immediate outcomes for this project include: (1) increased access to safe drinking water sanitation facilities and hygiene promotion; (2) increased access to emergency reproductive health; and (3) increased access to malnutrition screening and treatment. The expected intermediate outcome is reduced vulnerability of crisis-affected people especially women and children.