Expanding an innovative livelihoods program to ease war-fuelled hunger and malnutrition
The governorate of Taizz is both home to Yemen’s third-largest city and a central battleground of its crushing civil war. Here, the human toll exacted by the seemingly endless conflict is wrenching: severe food shortages, heavily damaged infrastructure and public services, growing malnutrition and what the United Nations calls, “irreversible livelihood asset stripping” as rural …
Small changes, big consequences
The unfortunate myth that breast milk alone is not enough for a child’s nutritional needs is strongly embedded within Somalian society. As a result, in a nation where many mothers and children don’t have access to the healthcare and education needed to ensure a healthy pregnancy and infanthood, mothers often supplement breast milk with infant …
How moms celebrated #BumpDay 2018
On July 25th, moms and moms-to-be celebrated #BumpDay to raise awareness about maternal health needs around the world. #BumpDay shines a light on the crucial issue of maternal health while raising funds that save lives. Approximately 830 women die every day as a result of preventable pregnancy-related causes. International Medical Corps and What To Expect are committed …
Mobile Medical Teams Provide Vital Support for Jameel
Jameel Mohammed, aged 63 years, was forced to leave his home in Syria as a result of the war. The dire humanitarian situation inside the country is among the worst crises in recent history, and has forced some 5.6 million Syrians to seek refuge in neighboring countries. In Iraq alone, almost 250,000 Syrians are registered …
Providing Much-Needed Care for Amina
A mother of five, 48-year-old Amina Yakoub is suffering from angina pectoris, joint pains, and diabetes. Amina is from Kobane City in the north of Syria. She left Kobane when fighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and opposition forces broke out in the city. She first moved to Turkey for …
Nadifu, an IDP and Mother in Somalia
Nadifu, a 35-year-old mother of seven, lives in an internally displaced person (IDP) camp in Harahar village in Somalia’s Galkayo region. Harhar village hosts more than 15 IDP camps. Nadifu and her children now call this home—a home where their house is a makeshift shelter made from pieces of clothes. The unforgiving drought wiped out …
Meet Kenyi Friday Lodu, a Midwife in South Sudan
My name is Kenyi Friday Lodu. I am 25 years old. I was born in Kajo Keji County, south of South Sudan’s capital of Juba. Due to fighting in South Sudan, I grew up in neighboring Uganda until the age of 14 before returning to my home country in 2005. I lost my father in …
Notes from the Field: Nigeria
As our plane landed in Borno state in northeastern Nigeria, I wondered what lay before us. Since the Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009, the region we were visiting has been wracked by violence, and has seen the highest number of internally displaced people in the country– an estimated 1.7 million. It’s still considered one …
Renewed Violence in Central African Republic Sparks Sharp Rise in Refugees Fleeing to Neighboring Chad
Over 18,000 citizens of the Central African Republic (CAR) have fled renewed fighting in their homeland to take refuge in neighboring Chad in recent weeks, according to United Nations officials. The violence and subsequent spike in the flow of Central African refugees into Chad has added new pressure to a major displacement crisis that has …