from ISSOUF TRAORE in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
OUAGADOUGOU, (CAJ News) – MORE than 535 500 children aged under five in Burkina Faso are at risk of death as they suffer from acute malnutrition.
They are among more than 1 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in the West African country.
Some 3,3 million people are in acute food insecurity.
This is according to a new survey that shows a worsening of the nutritional situations of children.
These severely acutely malnourished children have a nine times higher risk of death than well-nourished children.
In addition, infant mortality rates have crossed the unenviable benchmark of one death per 10 000 children per day at a local reception site for displaced populations.
James Mugaju, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) deputy representative in Burkina Faso, said the aggravating factors leading to the deterioration of the nutritional situation of children in these localities were mainly linked to the displacement of populations.
This follows insecurity, the reduction in access to livelihoods and the reduction in access to health care.
Mugaju said the coronavirus pandemic had a brutal impact on households and their ability to meet the basic needs of their children.
“Children pay the heaviest price in a triple crisis,” the envoy said.
rely acutely malnourished children have been treated since January 2020.
Burkina Faso, with an estimated population of 20 million people, is enduring civil conflict.
– CAJ News