Time is running out for millions of children, unless the world acts now. Famine and lack of a reliable food supply are threatening the lives of approximately 80 million people - more than half of them children - in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, Djibouti and Yemen. The numbers of children under threat are enormous. More than 2.5 million face imminent risk of death from severe acute malnutrition.
Approximately 4 million children and adolescents may not be able to go to school. Almost 17 million people - including many children - will need lifesaving vaccines, medicine and healthcare. Caused by war, intractable violence, displacement, climate change and drought, this man-made crisis can be prevented. Children need your help today.
Investing now is not only critical to address the immediate, urgent need; it is also more efficient and cost-effective. If we wait, the costs to reach one child can increase almost thirty-fold in the coming months. UNICEF will provide life-saving needs for the children, support nutrition programs to screen for malnutrition and provide therapeutic food, health services, vaccinations, water, sanitation, child protection, education, and cash assistance to the most vulnerable families.
UNICEF and partners are working around the clock to save children's lives. In northeast Nigeria, one of the thirteen affected countries, the number of children with severe acute malnutrition is expected to reach 450,000 this year conflict-affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobi. If UNICEF receives the necessary funds for treatment, the mortality rate can be reduced to less than one percent. If UNICEF cannot reach those children, one in five will face an increased risk of death.
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).