NAIROBI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Wednesday that funding cuts are hampering efforts to scale up life-saving nutritional services in eastern and southern Africa, where 13 million children are affected by the nutritional crisis.
The UN agency called for immediate and concerted efforts to tackle the alarming nutrition crisis in the region where nearly four million children are estimated to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, the most lethal form of undernutrition.
UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Etleva Kadilli said that a malnutrition crisis is exacerbated by the global funding crisis.
"Children have a right to nutrition, and despite the challenges UNICEF and partners are facing, we are still working tirelessly to provide nutritional services to the most vulnerable. This is not the time to scale down our support, it is in fact the time to significantly scale up," Kadilli said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
According to the statement, the region is facing high levels of child malnutrition, driven by a combination of extreme climate shocks, insecurity, economic instability, and funding cuts to life-saving nutrition assistance for communities in need.
The situation in Somalia is particularly dire, as an estimated 4.4 million people, nearly a quarter of Somalia's population, will experience crisis-levels of hunger, with 1.7 million children expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, the UNICEF noted.
The UN agency said the ongoing poor rainfall, coupled with high food prices and conflict, has worsened the crisis, leaving families struggling to access essential nutrition, as well as water, sanitation, hygiene, and health services.
It said in South Sudan, malnutrition among children under five, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, remains a critical concern.
This year, more than two million children under five are at risk of moderate and severe acute malnutrition, a 26 percent increase from 2024, the UNICEF said, adding that of those, 650,000 children under five are at risk of the severest form, reflecting a 33 percent rise compared to 2024.
According to the UNICEF, despite efforts to provide life-saving nutritional support across the region, funding shortages are hampering efforts to reach all those in need, with an estimated 110 million U.S. dollars gap for supplies.
"Due to their generosity, we were able to treat more than 2.2 million children suffering from severe wasting in 2024, but we need your continued investments not only in curative interventions but also around building community nutritional resilience, which is more critical than ever," Kadilli said. ■