Boko Haram: Devastation Leaves 500 000 Children on Brink Of Death
During a recent news briefing at the United Nations’ Headquarters in New York City, a UN humanitarian official said that the West African areas that have been affected by terrorist group, Boko Haram, are heading for a humanitarian disaster.
Toby Lanzer, the UN’s Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, said that unless the people affected by Boko Haram’s actions get immediate aid, most of them – especially the children – will most likely die.
Nigeria, Niger, and Chad are some of the West African countries that have been devastated by Boko Haram activity since the terrorist group started their uprising seven years ago.
It is estimated that the rise of Boko Haram in these countries have displaced well over two million people and have caused the deaths of more than 20 000 civilians.
Aid workers from the United Nations and other humanitarian organisations have slowly started to infiltrate the regions affected most by Boko Haram, with the help of the Nigerian military.
Here, they have provided aid for civilians living in unfathomable circumstances. However, the number of people requiring immediate relief is greater than expected. Lanzer also said that young children suffer the most in these areas, as they are extremely malnourished.
Lanzer continued, saying that they have estimated that around 11 million people are in dire need of food and other medical aid in the West African region, 7.1 million of which are severely starved and get by on only one small meal a day.
He also said that the UN has estimated that more than 515 000 children are severely malnourished, and if they do net get help soon, they will die.
“What we have seen is extraordinary…I have seen adults sapped of all energy, who are almost unable to walk. We have had villages and towns devoid of 2- and 3- and 4-year-old children because they’ve died,” he said.
Lanzer said that Nigeria and its neighbouring countries are experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa.
The UN will launch an appeal for $1 billion in donations to aid the crisis in West Africa at a conference meeting in Norway in February.
