According to a new report by the United Nation, about 250
thousand children in Borno state are suffering from
severe malnutrition and if they do not receive immediate
treatment, tens of thousands of the children may die soon.
The report which was released today July 19th, states that
out of the 244,000 children suffering from severe acute
malnutrition in Borno this year, an estimated 49,000
children – almost 1 in 5 – will die if they are not reached
with treatment.
“Some 134 children on average will die every day
from causes linked to acute malnutrition if the
response is not scaled up quickly. We need all
partners and donors to step forward to prevent any
more children from dying. No one can take on a
crisis of this scale alone."said Manuel Fontaine,
UNICEF Regional Director for Western and Central
Africa, who just returned from a visit to Borno
state. " While visiting newly accessible parts of
Borno state that were previously under Boko Haram
control, Fontaine witnessed destroyed towns
accommodating displaced people, families with little
access to adequate sanitation, water or food, and
thousands of frail children in desperate need of
help. "There are 2 million people we are still not
able to reach in Borno state, which means that the
true scope of this crisis has yet to be revealed to
the world,” Fontaine said. "There are organizations
on the ground doing great work, but none of us are
able to work at the scale and quality that we need.
We must all scale up.
