UNICEF decries devastating impact of Boko Haram insurgency on children

UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake said the brutal years of Boko Haram insurgency had left a devastating impact on children in northeast Nigeria.

Lake stated this in a statement issued on Tuesday in New York on the situation of children in northeast, Nigeria.

“The violent conflict in northeast Nigeria has left children severely malnourished and at risk of death,” he said.

He said In the three worst-affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, farming has been disrupted and crops destroyed, food reserves depleted and often pillaged, and livestock killed or abandoned.

“In Borno, where the fighting has been most brutal, 75 per cent of the water and sanitation infrastructure and 30 per cent of all health facilities have been destroyed, looted or damaged,” he noted

He noted the impact on children is devastating.

According to him, if the children do not receive the treatment they need, one in five will die from cases of diarrhoea, malaria or pneumonia which are on the rise.

“These figures represent only a fraction of the suffering. Large areas of Borno state are completely inaccessible to any kind of humanitarian assistance. We are extremely concerned about the children trapped in these areas,” he said.

“We are making a difference in the areas we can reach. With the World Food Programme and other partners, we are treating acutely malnourished children.”

He explained that UNICEF and other aid agencies and partners are vaccinating children against measles and polio and are providing safe water and sanitation services.

“But this is nowhere close to enough,”

UNICEF chief decries devastating impact of Boko Haram insurgency on children – https://t.co/zeJGfSyQu8 pic.twitter.com/7v1hEhckJe

— Nigerian Tribune (@nigeriantribune) December 14, 2016

He reiterated that Without adequate resources and without safe access, we and our partners will be unable to reach children whose lives are at imminent risk.