NIGERIA, THREE OTHERS MAY LOSE 1.4 MILLION CHILDREN TO FAMINE IN 2017 – UN
he United Nations
International Children Emergency Fund, UNICEF, on Monday said that 1.4 million
children suffering from severe malnutrition could die this year from famine in
Nigeria and three other countries.
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According to UNICEF,
in Yemen, where war has been raging for nearly two years, 462,000 children are
suffering from acute malnutrition while 450,000 children are severely
malnourished in northeast Nigeria.
Drought in Somalia
has left 185,000 children on the brink of famine but that figure is expected to
reach 270,000 in the next few months, said UNICEF.
In South Sudan, over
270,000 children are malnourished and a famine has just been declared in parts
of Unity State in the north of the country, where 20,000 children live.
UNICEF director,
Anthony Lake, appealed for quick action.
“We can still save
many lives,” he said.
In January, a report
by the Famine Early Warning System Network, FEWS NET, an agency supported by
the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, said that due to
persistent conflict, severe drought and economic instability, Nigeria and three
other countries faced a credible risk of famine in 2017. READ MORE
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