MAIDUGURI, Nigeria
More than 2.5 million children in the northeast region of Nigeria, ravaged by terror attacks, risk malnutrition in 2025 if they do not get urgent support, a UN official said Tuesday.
Trond Jensen, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Nigeria, said protracted violence in the volatile region has forced a large portion of the civilian population from their homes to take refuge in displaced person camps and the neighboring countries of Niger and Chad.
“The huge displacement has cut the displaced persons access to safe water and basic human needs. In 2025, 2.5 million children will be malnourished if urgent needs are not provided,” he said at a news conference in the national capital of Abuja ahead of the launch on Thursday of National Humanitarian Need and Response by the UN.
He said adequate funds are required to provide aid to children and the affected population.
The aid will focus on saving the lives of displaced persons and refugees, protecting them and providing human needs — water and sanitation, he said.
“We want to be proactive rather than reactive to save more lives because prevention is better than cure,” he said.
