 Health workers treat a malnourished child at Mogadishu hospital, Somalia. (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
UNICEF on Tuesday warned that more than 7 million children under the age of 5 remain malnourished and in need of urgent nutrition support, and over 1.9 million children are at risk of dying from severe malnutrition.
As the region comes out of one of the worst droughts in 40 years, vulnerable communities have lost cattle, crops, and entire livelihoods over the past three years of failed rains.
Mohamed Fall, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, said that the crisis in the Horn has been devastating for children. Over the past three years, communities have been forced to take extreme measures to survive, with millions of children and families leaving their homes out of pure desperation in search of food and water.
On top of nutrition needs, extreme weather, insecurity, and scarcity have also had devastating consequences for women and children, worsening the risk of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and abuse.
Major outbreaks including cholera, measles, malaria, and other diseases are ongoing across the region, worsened by extreme weather conditions and fragile health systems, according to UNICEF.