Food needs increase among displaced children and their families

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Over the last several months, World Vision has undertaken direct, high-impact relief activities to ensure the wellbeing of thousands of people in Chad and Niger by meeting their immediate needs for food, shelter and psychosocial support. But according to Paul Sitnam, World Vision’s response director for this emergency, the need for adequate and appropriate nutrition is drastically increasing as more and more people are being displaced from their homes.

“Providing and improving access to food and nutrition for affected population is key to children’s welfare, the health of their communities, and their ability to move forward,” Sitnam says, adding that poor nutrition can have a serious impact on brain development in the early years of life, affecting a child’s ability to learn, grow and prosper, as well as their resilience to diseases and disasters.

In Niger and border areas of Chad, thousands of people are experiencing chronic poverty and food insecurity with approximately 515,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Paul Sitnam calls for more support to reach approximately 91,000 additional people in Niger and Chad

“We need to underscore the urgency in food security and increasing resilience and economic recovery of the displaced population”, says Sitnam. “Much more funding is urgently needed to ensure food security, household consumption and care for children’s nutritional needs. This lack of funds is delaying the relief even further and aggravating the suffering for those who need the food.” 

In the entire Lake Chad region, community resilience is low and the people in this region are at risk of falling further into humanitarian crisis if they experience another shock.

 For weeks now, this grinding machine has not been operational for lack of cereals

World Vision has been at the forefront of the emergency response in Lake Chad Basin region, helping to deliver emergency aid to communities devastated by Boko Haram attacks. The organisation has been able to directly reach more than 68,000 beneficiaries in Niger and Chad since September 2016 and provide emergency shelter supplies, water and immediate access to clothes and dedicated child protection activities.

Over the next several months, World Vision is planning to increase productivity and income-generation capacity for displaced families, returnees and host communities by setting up 20 saving groups and providing skills training for 200 young adults and adolescents. As well, plans are in the works for a cash distribution to allow affected residents to purchase food for their own use.

“World Vision is committed to Niger and Chad for the long term. Our aim is to provide humanitarian assistance to approximately 91,000 additional people in need and create the conditions for longer term programming in food security for the people we work with,” adds Sitnam.

 

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