UNICEF has warned that a series of global financial, geopolitical and supply chain shocks are making the challenges of getting food to at-risk children nearly insurmountable.
“The world is rapidly becoming a virtual tinderbox of preventable child deaths and child suffering from wasting,’’ UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said on Tuesday.
A report ‘Severe wasting: An overlooked child survival emergency’ released by the agency focused on the risks of severe wasting, in which children were too thin for their height, resulting in weakened immune systems.
“Even before the war in Ukraine placed a strain on food security worldwide, conflict, climate shocks and COVID-19 were already wreaking havoc on families’ ability to feed their children,” said Ms Russell. “The world is rapidly becoming a virtual tinderbox of preventable child deaths and child suffering from wasting.”
According to the report, 13.6 million children aged five and…
