Africa-Press – Botswana. Six non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working to protect children today warned that 8 million children are in danger of dying of hunger in at least 15 countries, most of which are in Africa.
“If we don’t act now, the consequences of this hunger crisis will have devastating repercussions on the lives, health, nutrition, education, protection and survival of boys and girls”, said the director of the organization Save the Children, Inger Ashing, adding that the crisis is “unprecedented”.
Among the countries covered in the NGO’s note are Afghanistan and Yemen, in addition to the sub-Saharan countries Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan.
The international community has “a collective responsibility to ensure that urgent measures are taken to prevent the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children” who live among the 50 million people with catastrophic living conditions and acute hunger, says note.
“Our organizations, working directly with these families and communities around the world, witness the devastating effects of conflict, the climate crisis, Covid-19 and the aftermath of the Ukraine war on a daily basis,” Ashing said.
The NGO leader concluded that the danger is even greater for girls, who may be forced into child marriage, early pregnancies, school dropout and sexual exploitation.
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