By the end of 2024, an estimated 609,808 children will be acutely malnourished, with 118,570 projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition—a 34 percent increase from 2023 levels. Additionally, around 222,918 pregnant and breastfeeding women are expected to be malnourished. These projections are based on SMART nutrition surveys conducted between November 2023 and February 2024.

Acute malnutrition is a major public health problem in several parts of the Government of Yemen (GoY) areas. Of particular concern are two districts in Hodeidah Southern lowland and one in Taiz lowland (Makha) that are classified in IPC AMN Phase 5 (extremely critical) in the current period (from November 2023 to June 2024). This classification is projected to expand to four districts - Mawza and Al Makha in Taiz lowland and Hays and Al Khawkhah in Hodeidah lowlands— in IPC AMN Phase 5 during the July to October 2024 projection period. These districts require immediate intervention to prevent increased morbidity and potential mortality among children under 5 years of age.

• Prevention Interventions:

At community Level: Strengthen community engagement through redefined roles for nutrition volunteers, scale-up social behavior change communication on nutrition, health, WASH, child development, and address gender-based violence. Implement Blanket Supplementary Feeding Programs for vulnerable groups and enhance micronutrient supplementation and growth monitoring.

At health facility Level: Integrate nutrition indicators into maternal and child health services, strengthen growth monitoring, and promote Baby Friendly Hospitals initiatives to support best practices in infant and young child feeding (IYCF).

• Curative Interventions: Focus on seasonal scaling-up of treatment for acute malnutrition, particularly for severe cases with medical complications, during critical periods.

• Inter-Sectoral Collaboration: Collaborate across sectors to reduce morbidity, improve immunization and antenatal care, enhance WASH efforts, support food security, and sustain social protection initiatives.

• Enhanced Surveillance System: Strengthen nutrition surveillance systems to detect and refer undernutrition cases, and monitor humanitarian response targets through regular reviews to ensure timely interventions.