Hundreds of thousands of Eritrean children are living in extreme poverty due to prolonged drought, the aftermath of border conflict with neighbouring Ethiopia and its impact on the country’s economy, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has reported.
Unicef said in a humanitarian update that an estimated 425 000 children under 14 years of age are affected, mostly in families that are largely dependent on and headed by women.
It added that malnutrition rates are still high, with all regions reporting more than 10% of children under five experiencing acute malnutrition. Among women, malnutrition is on the rise in the central Maekel Zoba region, which previously had low levels, indicating food shortages due to market instability.
Unicef said a recent report by the Eritrean Health Ministry showed that under-five mortality has risen to 15 children out of 100 000 a day in some parts of the country. In Debub region, where six out of eight dams have dried up in the past year creating acute water shortages for a large number of people, deaths from diarrhoea have increased.
According to the update issued on July 15, street children and destitution have became more evident. Urban areas in need of food aid have received very little this year and the Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission has only been able to provide 100 000 people with wheat flour for two months. It has not been able to reach another 200 000 needy people.
Unicef added that it has received no funds to assist the increasing numbers of children lured to the streets in the capital city and major towns, due to the economic hardship of families, especially those in the estimated 47% of female-headed households facing the aftermath of the border conflict.
Poor diet has also contributed to micro-nutrient deficiencies and poor growth and development of Eritrean children.
”The problem could result in poor cognitive and physical outcomes for generations to come,” it said.
Unicef said it is supporting about 30 000 malnourished children with supplementary food and providing 30 therapeutic feeding centres with supplies and equipment.
The Eritrean food crisis has been exacerbated by a general failure of rains by late May. Unicef said the water shortage has huge implications on the livelihood and health of Eritreans, adding that it has been asked to expand water trucking from 35 000 to 65 000 people per year.
Unicef said it needs an additional $3,8-million to fund health, nutrition, water and sanitation projects and support internally displaced children, primarily in rural areas, for the rest of this year.
Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a two-and-a-half-year war that erupted in 1998 and claimed tens of thousands of lives. Under a peace agreement signed in Algiers in December 2000, their leaders pledged to resolve tensions through an independent commission.
When the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission issued its ruling in April 2002, however, Ethiopia rejected it as ”illegal” and called for talks with Eritrea. Eritrea said the border must be demarcated first, before any such talks can be held.
About 4 200 United Nations peacekeepers patrol a 25km-wide security buffer zone along the 1 000km frontier that separates the two countries. Recently the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea said that incidents along the border have declined and the situation in the area is calm.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan last month told Ethiopia and Eritrea that ”sober choices” must be made if they are to end their potentially dangerous stalemate. He noted that the stalemate is a source of instability in the region and could have potentially devastating results for both nations. — Irin