ARAC International StratCom - Unprecedented Political Turmoil and Border Closures Exacerbate the Nutritional Crisis, Leaving Vulnerable Children in Peril and Humanitarian Aid Stranded.

In the wake of extensive border closures due to ongoing political unrest in Niger, over 90,000 children under five, residing in the crisis-riddled regions, are experiencing a detrimental scarcity of specialized nutritional foods, which are essential to thwarting the progression of their condition from moderate to severe malnutrition. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and other humanitarian entities struggle to import necessary nutritional products into Niger, elevating concerns over a prospective large-scale nutritional crisis.

The situation is pressing, and unless expedited solutions are instituted, the number of affected children could potentially escalate to 160,000 by October 2023. “To sidestep a severe nutritional crisis, supplies must reach the country, failing which, we might witness an outbreak of serious infections and a surge in preventable deaths,” articulates Jean-Noel Gentile, the Country Director and Representative of WFP in Niger...

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