UNICEF warns of food shortage, disease in Northeast, others

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday
that malnutrition, thirst and disease threatened lives of millions of children in Northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.

Mr Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Director for Emergency Programmes, said in a statement issued in New York that continued humanitarian action was crucial in saving children’s lives.

Fontaine said the welcome announcement of an end to famine conditions in South Sudan this week should not distract attention from the fact that severe food insecurity continued to put the lives of millions of children at risk in the affected areas.

“There is no room for complacency. While famine has been reversed in South Sudan, the lives of millions of children are still hanging by a thread.
“The crisis is far from over and we must continue to scale up our response and insist on unconditional humanitarian access, otherwise the progress made could rapidly be undone,” Fontaine said.