The number of children at risk of severe malnutrition in the Central African Republic (CAR) has increased by nearly a third over previous projections, the Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and World Food Program (WFP) said on Thursday
UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2021) The number of children at risk of severe malnutrition in the Central African Republic (CAR) has increased by nearly a third over previous projections, the Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and World food Program (WFP) said on Thursday.
"At least 80,000 children under the age of five are currently at risk of severe acute malnutrition across the Central African Republic (CAR) - a 29 percent increase compared to projections for 2021," UNICEF and WFP said in a release. "Over 632,000 people - more than one in eight people - will fall into a catastrophic hunger situation between the first week of July and the end of the lean season without urgent action."
UNICEF and WFP also said that 40 percent of children under the age of five already suffer from chronic malnutrition.
Malnutrition rates in car have soared since violence erupted in the country after the general election in December. Opponents of Faustin Archange Touadera, who won the presidential vote, accused him of electoral fraud and armed clashes carried out by the rebel group Coalition of Patriots for Change broke out throughout the country.
