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2 mln Sudanese children suffer from wasting annually: UN

Xinhua, July 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday announced that about two million Sudanese children suffer from wasting annually, and acute malnutrition prevails among the children younger than five in the country.

"Acute malnutrition among children under the age of five is above emergency threshold across the country, including the areas with no conflict," Naeema Al-Gasseer, the acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, said at a press conference in Khartoum Tuesday.

"About two million children suffer from wasting annually, of whom over 555,000 are severely malnourished," she noted.

She listed multiple underlying structural causes, including food security, health, water and sanitation, as well as a lack of protective environment, which deeply affects their development and future health.

The official further reiterated the readiness of the international organization to work to reduce the rate of malnutrition among children.

"The government of Sudan has joined the global Scaling Up Nutrition movement and we want to spare no effort to support the government to end malnutrition among children," she said.

The UN official urged the Sudanese government to do its utmost to facilitate the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to the needy.

She also called on the armed movements to ensure unconditional access to the areas under their control.

According to fresh statistics of Sudan's Health Ministry, malnutrition surpasses eight known causes of children's deaths including malaria, blood poisoning, pneumonia, dehydration, gastroenteritis, anemia and heart diseases.

Sudan's government and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Country Office recently announced several national priority programs to address malnutrition and reduce children's mortality rate, through affording employment for families and communities thereby to support the children's best interests.

The programs will also ensure the children in conflict zones to be both vaccinated and supported through basic social services, as well as the enrollment of one million children into schools by 2017.

Furthermore, the programs aim to protect children from abuse, exploitation and violence, particularly the ones in conflict zones. Endit