{"id":230240,"date":"2023-02-27T12:01:55","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T12:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=230240"},"modified":"2023-02-27T13:09:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T13:09:13","slug":"ticking-time-bombs-for-the-most-defenceless-the-children-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/02\/ticking-time-bombs-for-the-most-defenceless-the-children-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Ticking Time Bombs\u2019 for the Most Defenceless: The Children (II)"},"content":{"rendered":"

23 Feb 2023 – <\/em>While the world\u2019s biggest powers and their giant private corporations continue to attach high priority to their military \u2013and commercial\u2013 dominance, both of them being shockingly profitable, entire generations are being lost to deadly armed conflicts, devastating climate catastrophes, diseases, hunger and more imposed impoverishment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In Nigeria\u2019s Northeast the number of children suffering from acute malnutrition is projected to increase to two million in 2023. Credit: UNOCHA\/Christina Powell<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Part I <\/strong>of this series of two articles<\/strong><\/a> focussed on the unprecedented suffering of the most innocent and helpless human beings \u2013 children\u2013 in 11 countries. But there are many more.<\/p>\n

According to the UN Children Fund (UNICEF<\/a>), hundreds of thousands of children continue to pay the highest price of a mixture of man-made brutalities, with their lives, apart from the unfolding proxy war in Ukraine, and the not yet final account of victims of the T\u00fcrkiye and Syria earthquakes, which are forcing children to sleep in the streets under the rumble, amid the chilling cold.<\/p>\n

Nigeria<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Nigeria is just one of the already reported cases of 11 countries. UNICEF on 11 February 2023 appealed for 1.3 billion US dollars to stop what it calls \u201cthe ticking bomb of child malnutrition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The appeal is meant to help six million people severely affected by conflict, disease, and disaster in Northeast Nigeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe large-scale humanitarian and protection crisis shows no sign of abating,\u201d said Matthias Schmale, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria. \u201cAn estimated 2.4 million people are in acute need \u2013 impacted by conflict, disaster and disease \u2013 and require urgent support.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cticking time bomb\u201d of child malnutrition is escalating in Nigeria\u2019s Northeast, with the number of children suffering from acute malnutrition projected to increase to two million in 2023, up from 1.74 million last year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

Already high levels of severe acute malnutrition are projected to more than double from 2022 to a projected 697,000 this year. Women and girls are the hardest hit, said Schmale.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver 80% of people in need of humanitarian assistance across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states are women and children. They face increased risks of violence, abduction, rape and abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Nderitu<\/a> raised concerns about a worsening security situation, calling for urgent action to address conflicts and prevent \u201catrocity crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Credit:<\/p>\n

Urgent immediate actions must be taken now, both to address the crisis in the short-term and long-term. Credit: James Jeffrey\/IPS<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Horn of Africa: the suffering of over 20 million children <\/strong><\/h3>\n

By the end of 2022, UNICEF warned<\/a> of a funding shortfall as the region faces an unprecedented fifth consecutive failed rainy season and a poor outlook for the sixth.<\/p>\n

The number of children suffering dire drought conditions across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia has \u201cmore than doubled in five months,\u201d according to UNICEF.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cAround 20.2 million children are now facing the threat of severe hunger, thirst and disease, compared to 10 million in July [2022], as climate change, conflict, global inflation and grain shortages devastate the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

While collective and accelerated efforts have mitigated some of the worst impacts of what had been feared, \u201cchildren in the Horn of Africa are still facing the most severe drought in more than two generations,\u201d said<\/a> UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Lieke van de Wiel.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumanitarian assistance must be continued to save lives and build the resilience of the staggering number of children and families who are being pushed to the edge \u2013 dying from hunger and disease and being displaced in search of food, water and pasture for their livestock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly two million children across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are currently estimated to require \u201durgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of hunger.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition, across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia:<\/strong><\/p>\n