Over 1 million children lack life-saving treatment – UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said South Sudan is one of the eastern and southern African countries lacking lifesaving treatment, with 1.4 million children under the age of five acutely malnourished.
According to the UN agency, over 310,000 children in South Sudan are severely malnourished, and UNICEF, with its partners, provided treatment to more than 240 children last year.
Mohamed Moustapha Malick, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, announced yesterday that in South Sudan the situation remains urgent as floods in some areas have lasted for nearly a year.
He said the floods have killed cattle, submerged crops, and blocked humanitarian access at a time when funds are running low.
“Nothing is more devastating than seeing children suffering from severe wasting when we know it could have been prevented and treated.”
“Thanks to the support of our donors and partners, we have achieved some outstanding results and success stories,” Mohamed said.
He said the impact of COVID-19 and climate change, as well as conflict, created a negative impact that quickly overtook resources.
He also said that in Kenya, about 1.5 million children are not able to receive life-saving treatment for severe wasting, and the number represents almost half of the estimated 3.6 million children in urgent need.
Mohamed stressed that an estimated 2.8 million people are food insecure, with 565,044 children wasted and another 123,000 severely wasted.
“The situation is expected to deteriorate further due to the cumulative effects of three consecutive failed planting and harvest seasons and cattle dying amid droughts,” he said.
He said the situation in the region, which includes South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Mozambique Madagascar, and Angola, remains dire and any disruptions to an already stretched humanitarian operation, could further aggravate what is already a long-running nutrition crisis.
The official said UNICEF is asking for the US $255 million to scale up its emergency nutrition response in priority countries in Eastern and Southern Africa in 2022, and support children with adequate and life-saving nutrition services, including treatment for severe wasting.
In July 2021, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned of impending hunger facing South Sudanese children, adding that two out of three minors are in dire need of food assistance.
The aid agency reported on the impact of the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan and showed that 4.5 million children have nothing to smile about on the 10th anniversary of independence, owing to the marauding hunger crisis.
According to the report by UNICEF, natural calamities paired with intermittent waves of insecurity that have brought about political instability are to blame for the sad state of affairs.
In January 2021, the UN predicted that a total of 8.3 million people would require humanitarian assistance in South Sudan.
The UN said in the report conducted in 2020 that the magnitude of this problem would be much more pronounced in July 2021.
A large portion of this number entails women and children, who mostly fall victim to heartless ethnic war perpetrators. As a consequence, UNICEF expects nothing but a metamorphosed humanitarian crisis worthy of urgent intervention.
