Categories: National Issues

UNICEF : 1.4 million children at imminent risk of death as famine looms in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.

Almost 1.4 million children are at imminent risk of death from severe acute malnutrition this year, as famine looms in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, UNICEF said on Tuesday.

“Time is running out for more than a million children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “We can still save many lives. The severe malnutrition and looming famine are largely man-made. Our common humanity demands faster action. We must not repeat the tragedy of the 2011 famine in the Horn of Africa.”

In northeast Nigeria, the number of children with severe acute malnutrition is expected to reach 450,000 this year in the conflict-affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobi. Fews Net, the famine early warning system that monitors food insecurity, said late last year that famine likely occurred in some previously inaccessible areas of Borno states, and that it is likely ongoing, and will continue, in other areas which remain beyond humanitarian reach.

“We must not repeat the tragedy of the 2011 famine in the Horn of Africa”.

In Somalia, drought conditions are threatening an already fragile population battered by decades of conflict. Almost half the population, or 6.2 million people, are facing acute food insecurity and in need of humanitarian assistance. Some 185,000 children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year, however this figure is expected to rise to 270,000 in the next few months.

In South Sudan, a country reeling from conflict, poverty and insecurity, over 270,000 children are severely malnourished. Famine has just recently been declared in parts of Unity State in the northern central part of the country, where 20,000 children live. The total number of food insecure people across the country is expected to rise from 4.9 million to 5.5 million at the height of the lean season in July if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis.

And in Yemen, where a conflict has been raging for the past two years, 462,000 children are currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition – a nearly 200 per cent increase since 2014.

This year, UNICEF is working with partners to provide therapeutic treatment to 220,000 severely malnourished children in Nigeria, over 200,000 severely malnourished children in South Sudan, more than 200,000 severely malnourished children in Somalia, and 320,000 children in Yemen.

admin

View Comments

  • Hiya very nice site!! Man .. Excellent .. Wonderful .. I'll bookmark your blog and take the feeds additionally厈I am|I'm} glad to find a lot of useful information right here in the post, we need work out more techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing.

  • I am glad for commenting to let you understand of the excellent encounter my wife's girl experienced going through your webblog. She noticed so many issues, with the inclusion of how it is like to possess an excellent helping spirit to have most people effortlessly have an understanding of several impossible matters. You actually surpassed readers' expectations. I appreciate you for providing those great, safe, revealing and even easy tips on your topic to Tanya.

  • Thank you for all your effort on this web site. My daughter really loves engaging in investigations and it is easy to understand why. Most of us know all of the dynamic form you render advantageous ideas on this website and attract response from the others on that area while our own simple princess is truly learning so much. Have fun with the rest of the new year. Your carrying out a splendid job.

Recent Posts

Oyo: Oseni to Launch Mobile Clinic Initiative to Revitalize Rural Healthcare

A member representing Ibarapa East/Ido federal constituency of Oyo State at the House of Representatives,…

2 days ago

Oyo Rep, Oseni Pays APC Secretariat Staff Salaries, Donates N10m to Boost Party Operations

House of Representatives member and Chairman of the House Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency…

5 days ago

Rep Oseni Rallies Support for Ikogosi Development Projects, Calls for Resilience, Unity

The Chairman of the House Committee on the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and representative…

1 week ago

Bad Roads: ‘Focus on Message, Not Messenger’ – Nigerians Tell Works Minister, Umahi

The Nigerian Minister of Works, David Umahi, has ignited widespread public reaction following his response…

2 weeks ago

Oseni Salutes Senator Folarin’s Decades of Service at 61

  Engr. Aderemi Oseni, representing Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency of Oyo State in the House…

2 weeks ago

Oseni Donates N10m to Support Ibadan’s Mogaji Ile Eke Project

The Chairman, House Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Engr. Aderemi Oseni has made…

2 weeks ago