Children at risk in Tigray, says UN

By Nathan Morley

The United Nations has said thousands of children are at risk of dying from famine in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region.

According to the UN, some 30,000 severely malnourished children in extremely inaccessible areas are at great risk.

Late last year, the Ethiopian government deployed the national Army on an offensive against local troops in Tigray after accusing them of attacking federal troops.

A new UN report predicts that between July and September, the number of people facing famine in the region will rise to over 400,000.

Speaking to reports, the U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said that "there is famine now" in the region and said it's crucial to prevent a re-run of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, the UN’s World Food Programme has launched an emergency operation and increased food distribution to reach 1.4 million people, which they see as barely half the number of people they need to be reaching.

 UNICEF requires 8.8 million euros to provide ready-to-use therapeutic food to children in Tigray and affected neighbouring zones.