The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that over 2.5 million children suffer from severe malnutrition in Northern Nigeria.
The officer In Charge of UNICEF in Kaduna, Idris Baba made the disclosure at a meeting with traditional and religious leaders in Northern Nigeria to scale-up nutrition interventions on food and nutrition organised by the Ministry of Budget and National Planing in collaboration with UNICEF, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and other stakeholders in Kaduna over the weekend.
He said, “Nigeria is the second largest contributor to the death of children under 5 years of age. In Nigeria , two out of five children do not get the nutrient they need for body and strength development and over 13 million are affected in the country.”
Baba however pointed out that addressing malnutrition is of high importance in order to efficiently achieve some part of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially “those relating to hunger , child and maternal health, security and education.”
