Madagascar: Humanitarian Response Dashboard (January 2023 - May 2024)

The situation in the Grand Sud-Est remained concerning despite the scaling up of acute malnutrition management programmes and two years of interventions. The number of children under 5 who were estimated to be acutely malnourished rose to nearly 196,500 between October 2023 and April 2024, including in Ikongo and Nosy Varika, the most remote districts in this region, compared to more than 123,400 estimated between May 2022 and April 2023. The nutrition situation in the Grand Sud-Est has remained critical since 2022 due to successive tropical cyclones which have had a major impact on livelihoods, childhood illnesses and poor access to basic social services, according to the data
collected by the National Nutrition Office. In 2023, the number of admissions for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the Grand Sud-Est increased to 33,105 from 6,761 in 2021, almost equalling the total number of SAM admitted cases in the Grand Sud in 2023 (37,000 children). In addition, the health situation is
concerning with an analysis conducted by humanitarian partners in February 2024 in the Ikongo and Nosy Varika districts showing that cases of malaria significantly increased between July and December 2023, with an estimated 30,200 cases reported by the end of the year.

On the other hand, following the scaling up of humanitarian aid and relatively good rainfall in 2022 and 2023, the food security situation in Grand Sud has improved but remains a concern from October 2023 to September 2024. More than 263,000 children under 5 were acutely malnourished with the Ampanihy District experiencing a ‘serious’ nutrition situation since October 2023 and around 566,600 people are in IPC phase 3 and more from May to September 2024.

To sustain the improvements gained, intensify anticipatory actions to prevent the impacts of El Niño and to meet the rising needs, the UN and humanitarian partners launched a Flash Appeal to cover the period between January 2023 and May this year, requiring US$162.2 million to reach 1.6 million people. The Appeal is 38 per cent funded. Around a million people, which is more than 59 per cent of overall target, received some form of assistance by May 2024. Of these, at least 294,000 people were reached with anticipatory action support in the Grand Sud Region, representing 42 per cent of the targeted population. Overall, emergency and anticipatory response activities reached around 159,000 people in the Grand Sud-Est and 784,000 in the Grand Sud. More than 900,000 people received food and livelihood support and around 31,700 people accessed safe water, while around 36,700 received hygiene kits. More than 200,000 children under age 5 and pregnant and lactating women received nutritional support and/or treatment. Also, more than 198,000 children were vaccinated against preventable diseases. Over 128,000 people were reached with awareness-raising support to prevent gender-based violence (GBV) and increase knowledge of reproductive health issues. The El Niño anticipatory action response was 17 per cent funded. While the impact of anticipatory actions was visible and positive, limited funding impacted sustainability. Additional funding is required to scale-up the current response and to reinforce the anticipatory actions.