Unicef to raise funds for malnourished children during Ramadan

Unicef, for the first time, has launched a large-scale campaign to raise funds for malnourished children in Bangladesh this Ramadan.

The fundraising campaign is taking place inside Bangladesh, appealing to the growing and increasingly affluent middle classes who are more and more able to donate towards helping children in their own country, said a press release of Unicef.

"The economic progress in Bangladesh has created enhanced opportunities for us to take care of the underprivileged section of our population, and to ensure that we leave no one behind. The success of Bangladesh needs to be reflected through the children, who are our future and who also depend on us for their education, healthcare and well-being," said Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.

The Unicef Ramadan fundraising campaign is a first-ever invitation from Unicef to people in Bangladesh to let their good deeds echo for malnourished children around the country together with Unicef.

The most common forms of malnutrition are stunting (low height for age) or wasting (low weight for height). Bangladesh has made impressive progress in addressing malnutrition. Stunting was reduced from 42 percent in 2013 to 28 percent in 2019. Yet, over five million Bangladeshi children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition.

Stunting is caused by chronic or recurring undernutrition, and the damage done to a child's body and brain by stunting cannot be reversed. It drags down performance at school and later at work and puts a child at a higher risk of dying from infectious diseases.

Wasting is an acute form of undernourishment which can be fatal. It is characterised by recent and severe weight loss which is often caused by lack of food and by disease.

Children born to the poorest families are more likely to suffer from stunting and wasting. And when disasters such as floods strike, these already vulnerable children are at heightened risk.

"There is no greater cause than championing children's health, education and rights. This Ramadan, Unicef invites the people of Bangladesh to join hands with Unicef to help the most vulnerable children in their own country," said Sheldon Yett, Unicef representative to Bangladesh.