Antananarivo, May 21, 2021: Ambatovy is contributing to the humanitarian response in the South with a donation of USD 100,000 to UNICEF to purchase Ready-to-use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF), often referred to as Plumpy Nut®.
This contribution will save the lives of up to 2,000 severely malnourished children who need treatment in June 2021. UNICEF will purchase the therapeutic food and support the Ministry of Public Health in delivering the supplies purchased to the targeted regions, including Ampanihy, Bekily, Beloha, Tsihombe, Ambovombe and Amboasary, where it will be used to treat acutely malnourished children in hospitals and clinics.
“We are pleased to contribute to the national relief efforts for the South in these difficult times and, more specifically through UNICEF, to aid malnourished children,” declared Stuart Macnaughton, Ambatovy’s President.
Since late 2020, the population in the south of Madagascar has been facing a major nutrition and food security crisis. Over 1.3 million people will experience food insecurity by December 2021. At the end of March 2021, more than 74,000 children aged 6-59 months were acutely malnourished, and over 21,000 children under the age of 5 were treated for severe acute malnutrition between January and March 2021. This is the most severe form of malnutrition and results in emaciation and extreme thinness in children.
“Children suffering from severe acute malnutrition are nine times more likely to die than a healthy child; however, with proper treatment, about 80% of these children will survive,” emphasized Michel Saint-Lot, UNICEF Resident Representative in Madagascar. “Ambatovy’s support is a commendable example of the private sector’s commitment to the South. We hope that others will follow since the battle is not yet over and thousands of families and children in the South still live in precarious conditions.”
