By Muhammad Amaan
The United States Government has donated $32.5 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) to support food and nutrition assistance in Nigeria.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by Aishah Gambari of the U.S. Embassy in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the donation aims to save lives by providing food and nutrition support to vulnerable communities.
“The World Food Programme Nigeria, with U.S. Government’s contribution of 32.5 million dollars, will provide food assistance and nutrition support to internally displaced persons across conflict-affected areas.
“With the U.S. Government’s donation, the World Food Programme Nigeria will provide food and nutrition assistance to 764,205 beneficiaries across Northeast and Northwest Nigeria.
“This includes complementary nutrition top-ups for 41,569 pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls, and 43,235 children through electronic food vouchers.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said every hour, almost 100 children under the age of five die in Nigeria due to malnutrition.
The Chief Nutritionist for UNICEF, Ms. Nemat Hajeebhoy, said poor diets are robbing millions of children of their health, development, and lifetime prospects, adding that many children are not getting the diets and supplements they need to grow.
According to her, malnutrition threatens the survival and growth of Nigerian children.
“Left untreated, children with severe acute malnutrition are nearly 12 times more likely to die than a healthy child.
“Without urgent action, UNICEF estimates that 14.7 million children under five will suffer from moderate and severe acute malnutrition (wasting) this year.
“13 million children will suffer from moderate acute malnutrition and 1.7 million children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition,” she said.
Ms Hajeebhoy spoke in Abuja during the media executive roundtable meeting organised by the National Council of Nutrition in collaboration with the office of the vice president.
The meeting was also organised with support from UNICEF, the Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, and the Federal Ministry of Health, among others.
