(introduction...)
Nutritional data on refugees and internally displaced people
(IDPs) are rarely included in national survey data. The data on trends and
prevalences of malnutrition described elsewhere in this report do not include
refugee and displaced populations. Much of the information presented here is
based on the ACC/SCN’s Reports on the Nutritional Situation of
Refugees and Displaced Populations (RNIS).1
Unlike stable situations, displacement emergencies result in
large variations in levels of undernutrition in relatively small areas. Thus,
data that are aggregated by region or country can easily mask pockets of
undernutrition that require an immediate, but carefully targetted, response. For
example, the recent situation in Angola, where rebel forces have besieged
several cities, has resulted in extremely high levels of wasting within these
cities, which contrasts starkly with the more stable situation in the
countryside, which is less affected by conflict. Thus, it is not appropriate to
generalize about trends in the nutritional situation of refugees and IDPs either
regionally or globally.
Instead of describing trends in the nutritional situation of
refugees and IDPs, this chapter will provide an overview of the trends and
developments in humanitarian response to the nutritional situation of refugees
and displaced populations, followed by an overview of the prevalence and
severity of under-nutrition in recent selected emergencies in the form of six
case studies. The chapter will conclude by identifying emerging issues as well
as key research priorities and policy
implications.
