1.7m children malnourished in the North

chika ebuzor

July 31, 2016 10:16 AM

The North-East region of Nigeria has been devastated by constant attacks from the terror group, Boko-Haram.

Children malnourished in the North

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The North-East region of Nigeria has been devastated by constant attacks from the terror group, Boko-Haram.

This was disclosed by the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Mallam Auwal Ibrahim Musa.

Musa, who also spoke to the Katsina state Governor, Aminu Bello Masari on the report, said the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has made available N820m to tackle malnutrition in the state.

READ: 'We've received N345m cash donations for IDPs in 4 years,' Shettima says

He also said “UNICEF has made N820 million available for this project.All that is required for the state to access the fund is for the state to pay its own N120 million counterpart funding.”

Musa said ”Globally,25,000 under 5 children die daily and 45% of cause of death is attributed to malnutrition.Nigeria is one of the 20 countries responsible for 80%of global child malnutrition ,which accounts for one tenth of the global total.

“Nigeria currently has 2.1million malnourished children.Nearly one thousand Nigerian Children die of malnutrition-related causes everyday–a total of 361,000 child death each year.

“The 2016 Global Nutrition Report shows Nigeria is second position in the ranking of global prevalence of stunting and wasting after India.The report shows that Katsina has second highest prevalence rate of stunting and wasting after Jigawa.

“Katsina state is among the states with less than 10% exclusive breastfeeding practice in Nigeria.”

Pulse recently obtained a video of malnourished children in a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno state.

Despite reports that the Borno state Government received cash donations of N345m for the upkeep of the IDPs, the sight of the dying children was heart breaking.

Watch the video of hungry looking children in the IDP camps crying for food below.

chika ebuzor