A baby girl who came back from the brink

Three-month-old Umi weighed only 1.7 kg (3.5 lbs) when she was carried into a Save the Children-supported health clinic in Kenya.

Umi was acutely malnourished, dehydrated and suffering from bronchial pneumonia. She had been vomiting and had not eaten properly for five days. Umi's mother was also suffering from malnutrition.

Save the Children staff gave Umi antibiotics, and immediately took her to the stabilization centre at the district hospital in Wajir, where trained staff addressed her immediate needs and nursed her back to health. Save the Children health workers monitored Umi’s progress to ensure she remained healthy and well nourished.

“My daughter was almost dying,” said her mother, Amina, “but today I have a healthy daughter and I’m so happy. You cannot even compare the joy I feel today to the sadness I felt—it is just not comparable.”

Results in 2011

Hunger Crisis in East Africa

Save the Children helped save millions of lives in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia last year when drought and famine devastated the region. Globally, we were able to mount a $145 million relief effort that included providing emergency food and water, and managing large-scale nutrition, health, food security, and child protection and education programs in drought-stricken areas and refugee camps. Of this response, $6 million came from Canada alone.

Along with our international Save the Children partners, we reached 2,092,104 people in Ethiopia, 859,494 in Kenya, and 455,883 in Somalia. In one camp, we offered a food voucher program for parents who showed proof of immunization and growth monitoring for their children—an innovative way to promote child health while supporting the local economy.

Floods in Pakistan

Partnering with CIDA, we provided shelter and non-food items (such as cooking pots, blankets and water containers) to families who fled the rapidly rising floodwaters.

Earthquake in Japan

Save the Children contributed funds to support the Japanese government’s response to the devastating quake. These funds were used for child protection and education activities.

Hunger Crisis in West Africa

As the threat of a food crisis became a reality, Save the Children scaled up efforts to save the lives of thousands of malnourished children. We trained

community volunteers in Burkina Faso to screen children for acute malnutrition, provide therapeutic foods and refer severe cases to health clinics and district hospitals.

Political Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire

Families displaced by social upheaval received food, health care and hygiene kits.

In 2011, Save the Children collaborated with Oxfam on a report about the global response to the hunger crisis in East Africa. The report, A Dangerous Delay, called for a faster response to signs of a slow-onset emergency. It found that countless lives could be saved if governments, non-government organizations, media, and the public responded promptly rather than waiting until a situation becomes dire.