Aug. 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned that the thousands of Saharawi refugees living in the Tindouf camps (Algeria) are at risk of falling into a serious situation of malnutrition, for which they have requested food aid “urgent”.
The rise in prices and the cut of more than 75 percent in the rations of the World Food Program (WFP) means that these enclaves, largely dependent on humanitarian aid, find themselves in an extreme situation. The UN estimates that this year it needs 39 million dollars to cover the needs, almost 20 million dollars more than before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
The UN resident coordinator, Alejandro Álvarez, has warned that the pandemic, first, and the war in Ukraine, later, have aggravated the “significant funding deficits” of the humanitarian community, “which is making it worryingly difficult to access of refugees to food, water, health, nutrition, education and other services essential to their livelihoods”.
To date, WFP aid does not cover even half of the recommended daily calorie intake per person. The beneficiaries receive a batch of less than 5 kilos, when under normal conditions it would be 17 kilos per person per month.
A study carried out six months ago had already detected severe malnutrition in 10.7 percent of children between six and 59 months, when in 2019 the proportion was around 7.6 percent. Half of children of this age suffer from anemia and one in three is stunted, according to the United Nations.
Add Comment