6.9 million adolescent girls and pregnant and breastfeeding women suffer from acute malnutritionin the 12 countries most affected by the food crisis.

Over 4.5 million women and newborns die each year during pregnancy, childbirth or the first weeks after birth – which equates to one death every 7 seconds. More than one billion adolescent girls and women suffer from malnutrition, deficiency of essential micronutrients and anemia.

On Mother's Day, UNICEF said the number of adolescent girls and pregnant and breastfeeding women suffering from acute malnutrition rose from 2020.5 million to 5.6 million since 9, an increase of 25%, in the 12 countries most affected by the global food and nutrition crisis. The 12 countries – including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen – represent the epicenter of a global nutrition crisis that has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and the ongoing drought, conflict and instability in some countries.

Pregnant women and newborns continue to die at unacceptably high rates around the world, and the Covid-19 pandemic has created additional barriers in providing them with the healthcare they need.

Global progress in reducing deaths of pregnant women, mothers and newborns has stagnated for eight years due to declining investment in maternal and newborn health.

Globally, 51 million children under the age of 2 suffer from chronic malnutrition. Of these, about half are affected during pregnancy and the first six months of life, the 500-day period in which a baby is completely dependent on maternal nutrition, according to a new analysis contained in the report. More than one billion adolescent girls and women suffer from malnutrition, deficiency of essential micronutrients and anaemia, with devastating consequences for their lives and well-being. Global crises continue to disproportionately undermine women's access to nutritious food. Inadequate nutrition during the lives of girls and women can lead to a weakening of the immune system, poor cognitive development and an increased risk of life-threatening complications, including during pregnancy and childbirth, with dangerous and irreversible consequences for the survival, growth, learning and future earning capacity of their children.