UNICEF Says 90 Percent Of Children In Gaza Suffer From Severe Food Poverty

Children in the south of the Gaza Strip queue for food distribution. (UNICEF/Abed Zagout)

JAKARTA - The United Nations (UNICEF) children's agency in its latest report said 90 percent or 9 of the 10 children in Gaza suffer from severe food poverty, unable to access enough food to maintain optimal growth and development.

"In the Gaza Strip, months of war and restrictions on humanitarian aid have destroyed food and health systems, which have resulted in catastrophic consequences for children and their families," UNICEF said in a statement on Wednesday.

Fighting throughout the Palestinian enclave has "destroyed agricultural land, left livestock starving, destroyed fishing fleets, and damaged processing facilities and food warehouses," the report said.

These factors, combined with the closure of global aid routes that usually supply these lines, have "harmed millions of people," he said.

UNICEF says five rounds of data collected between December 2023 and April 2024 have "consistently found" nine out of 10 children surviving with two or less meals per day.

"This is evidence of the dire impact of conflict and restrictions on the family's ability to meet children's food needs" and its speed puts children at a life-threatening risk of malnutrition, the report reads, quoted from WAFA.

The report also reveals that around 181 million children under the age of 5 worldwide are experiencing severe food poverty.

"Children who live in severe food poverty are children who live on the verge of collapse. Currently, that is the reality for millions of small children, and this can have a negative impact that cannot be restored on their survival, growth, and brain development," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

UNICEF also asks all governments and development and humanitarian partners to act prioritizing measures to end children's food poverty.