April 7, 2023 – 09:07
News (Nouakchott) – The United Nations Children’s Fund has warned that nearly a million children in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali “will be at risk of acute malnutrition” this year.
According to UNICEF figures, about 970,000 children under the age of 5 are at risk of acute malnutrition in the three most insecure countries.
Niger is the country most vulnerable to child malnutrition in the Sahel region, where the number of affected children is expected to reach 430,000, followed by Mali at a rate of 367,000 children, while the number is slightly more than 170,000 in Burkina Faso.
“Insecurity and growing conflict mean that vulnerabilities are increasing in the region, and it is increasingly difficult to help communities in isolated areas” facing armed attacks, said UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa Marie-Pierre Poirier.
The UN official called on governments to “put child nutrition first among national priorities” and “increase national investments in prevention, early detection and treatment of malnutrition.”
