The Increasingly Intensive Congo Conflict Makes 1 Million Children A Risk Of Acute Nutrition

Illustration-WHO/Ivan Simone Congolo

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than one million children are at risk of acute malnutrition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This was triggered by an increasingly deteriorating conflict in the eastern region between Congo's troops and the Rwanda-backed M23 militia. "This has caused more people to flee with 2.7 million displaced in North Kivu alone," the WHO said. Not to mention the floods and landslides that hit other parts of the country are exacerbating need. About 25 million people currently need humanitarian assistance. "If immediate action is not taken to meet basic needs in the DRC, more than 1 million children will suffer from acute malnutrition," WHO Senior Emergency Officer Adelheid Marschang told a news conference in Geneva. "ACUTE malnutrition is a result of widespread food insecurity, increasing, and also repetitively in areas that have been in conflict for years and decades now, but where we are now recently seeing escalation," added Marschang. Children at risk are mostly among the millions of people displaced by fighting in the eastern region but also children in the central Kasai province. Hundreds of thousands of children have suffered from acute malnutrition which can make them more susceptible to infection and disease. According to Marschang, they need continuous care. The WHO has recorded more than 20,000 cases of pagoda across the country so far this year and 60,000 cases ofembike, with the actual number perhaps higher due to inadequate scrutiny.

"The need has only increased exponentially, especially recently and the projection will continue," said Marschang. Adding to the challenges, humanitarian access has been "deeply limited by military presence around locations (refuges) and health facilities, bureaucratic barriers, roadblocks that interfere with aid deliveries", he added.