The UN Children’s Fund or UNICEF on Friday said nearly 1.3 million children aged below five years are at risk of acute malnutrition in South Sudan.
‘As the data show, more needs to be done, especially to ensure that exclusive breastfeeding is practiced’, said Mohamed Ag Ayoya, UNICEF representative in South Sudan in a statement issued in Juba.
‘UNICEF is urging everyone in South Sudan to assist mothers in ensuring that the practice of exclusive breastfeeding is continued until the globally recommended age of six months’, he added.
UNICEF and partners have already reached over one million pregnant and lactating mothers in South Sudan with nutrition interventions, Ayoya said.
“It is the responsibility of us all to support new mothers with simplest, smartest and most cost-effective ways to exclusively breastfeed their new-borns so that they survive and thrive,” the representative said.
UNICEF statement issued ahead of the World Breastfeeding Week which runs from August 1 to 7.
According to UNICEF, the high number of malnourished children can be reduced through exclusive breastfeeding for six months, alongside introduction of energy and nutrient-dense complementary feeding programs.