Malnutrition: UN says Nigeria among worst-hit countries, calls for urgent action

The United Nations (UN) agencies have listed Nigeria among the 15 countries where children are battling acute malnutrition and wasting.

This was disclosed in a joint statement by five UN agencies — the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

They listed the worst-hit countries as Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.

Over 30 million children across the 15 countries are said to be affected.

The agencies called for urgent intervention to protect children from the impact of food and nutrition crises, adding that it is a major threat to their lives and development.

“Conflict, climate shocks, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, and rising costs of living are leaving increasing numbers of children acutely malnourished while key health, nutrition and other life-saving services are becoming less accessible,” the statement reads.

“Currently, more than 30 million children in the 15 worst-affected countries suffer from wasting – or acute malnutrition – and 8 million of these children are severely wasted, the deadliest form of undernutrition.

“This is a major threat to children’s lives and to their long-term health and development, the impacts of which are felt by individuals, their communities and their countries.

“The global action plan addresses the need for a multi-sectoral approach and highlights priority actions across maternal and child nutrition through the food, health, water and sanitation, and social protection systems.

“In response to increasing needs, the UN agencies identified five priority actions that will be effective in addressing acute malnutrition in countries affected by conflict and natural disasters and in humanitarian emergencies.

“Scaling up these actions as a coordinated package will be critical for preventing and treating acute malnutrition in children, and averting a tragic loss of life.

“The UN agencies call for decisive and timely action to prevent this crisis from becoming a tragedy for the world’s most vulnerable children. All agencies urge for greater investment in support of a coordinated UN response that will meet the unprecedented needs of this growing crisis before it is too late.”

Joint effort needed to tackle food crisis

While commenting on the need for urgent intervention, QU Dongyu, director-general of FAO, said “this situation is likely to deteriorate even further in 2023”.

Dongyu added that “we must ensure availability, affordability and accessibility of healthy diets for young children, girls, and pregnant and lactating women”.

He said immediate action is needed to address the root causes of malnutrition through joint effort from all sectors.

Filippo Grandi, high commissioner of UNHCR, said the agency is intensifying efforts to tackle malnutrition among refugees and internally displaced children.

“The UN system is responding as one to this crisis and the UN global action plan on child wasting is our joint effort to prevent, detect and treat wasting globally. At UNHCR we are working hard to improve analysis and targeting to ensure that we reach children who are most at risk, including internally displaced and refugees populations,” Grandi said.

David Beasley, executive director of WFP, said “more than 30 million children are acutely malnourished across the 15 worst-affected countries, so we must act now and we must act together. It is critical that we collaborate to strengthen social safety nets and food assistance to ensure Specialized Nutritious Foods are available to women and children who need them the most”.

Meanwhile, Tedros Ghebreyesus, director-general, WHO, said it is essential that women and children are provided access to adequate food and nutrition.

“The global food crisis is also a health crisis, and a vicious cycle: malnutrition leads to disease, and disease leads to malnutrition,” Ghebreyesus said.

“Urgent support is needed now in the hardest hit countries to protect children’s lives and health, including ensuring critical access to healthy foods and nutrition services, especially for women and children.”