The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has called for increased efforts to combat child malnutrition in northeast Nigeria, where approximately 2.8 million children under five and pregnant and lactating women require preventative nutrition services. Dr. Tushar Rane, Chief of the Borno field office, emphasized the dire situation in the BAY states (Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe), where children are battling escalating levels of malnutrition.
According to Dr. Rane, if nutrition services are not provided, an estimated 1.7 million individuals will be at risk of acute malnutrition in 2024. He highlighted the prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) among children under five in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, which translates to over 511,807 children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) annually.
UNICEF is working with 46 partners to deliver critical nutrition services, and their efforts have seen over 460,000 children treated for acute malnutrition across the BAY states in 2023, a 37% increase compared to 2022. The organization has also initiated the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) to bolster domestic financing and combat child wasting.
Dr. Rane reiterated UNICEF’s commitment to working with government partners to prevent and treat malnutrition through integrated services, urging continued collaboration and resource allocation to sustain and scale up efforts.
In a related development, UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in Sokoto, Micheal Juma, expressed concern over the alleged diversion of nutrition supplements in some communities in Sokoto state, urging vigilance against the diversion of prepared nutrition supplements.
