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Over 1 mln children in need of urgent aid in Central African Republic: UNICEF

Xinhua, May 5, 2017 Adjust font size:

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned Friday that the lives and futures of 1.1 million Central African Republic children are at risk amid ongoing violence and widespread displacement in the country.

UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac told reporters here in a biweekly press briefing that the situation for children in the Central African Republic remains "dire."

According to figures, one in every seven children die before their fifth birthday, and over 40 percent of the country's young suffer from chronic malnutrition, stunting both their physical and intellectual development.

"The Central African Republic is one of the most difficult and dangerous countries in the world for children and for humanitarian workers," Boulierac continued.

As the African country grapples with a fragile recovery process, UNICEF revealed that some 890,000 people remain displaced, of which 425,000 internally so.

Over 2.2 million individuals, of which half are children, need urgent humanitarian assistance, the UN agency added.

UNICEF said that it is facing a 32.6 million U.S. dollars funding gap as it works to provide critical aid to children and families in the country. Endit