More than 400,000 malnourished children at risk of dying in DRC: UNICEF

GENEVA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 400,000 children under the age of five in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and could die in 2018 if no one intervenes, UNICEF warned on Tuesday.

The dire situation has largely been caused by violence in the Kasai region in the country's southern and central regions over the past 18 months, resulting in mass displacement and reduced agricultural production.

Though the security situation has stabilized in parts of the region, humanitarian conditions remain critical as more than 750,000 children there are acutely malnourished, and 25 health zones in the Kasai region are now in a situation of nutritional crisis with emergency thresholds on nutrition exceeded, according to UNICEF.

"This nutrition crisis and food insecurity in the Kasai region follows the displacement of thousands of families who have been living for months in very harsh conditions," said UNICEF acting representative in the DRC Tajudeen Oyewale. "The true scale of the problem is becoming clear as people are returning home in some areas where the security situation has improved and health services have started functioning again."

The fighting began in the Kasai region in August 2016 between the Kamuina Nsapu militia and the government forces. The situation deteriorated significantly during 2016 following a conflict over chieftaincy between the central government of Kinshasa and supporters of the traditional leadership system. The UN Human Rights Office suggested that some of the violations and abuses committed in the area may have amounted to crimes under international law.

The violence and displacement of 1.4 million people in the Kasai region has so far led to food shortages, with two-thirds of households unable to work their land to grow crops. Severe food insecurity is now affecting large parts of the region, and conditions are not expected to improve before June 2018, UNICEF said.

Health facilities have also been devastated, making it more difficult to provide treatment and care for severely malnourished children.

"Guaranteeing access to basic health and nutrition services to returning populations is essential to help malnourished children survive and thrive," said Oyewale. Enditem