October 17 is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. So, as the world is at the final leg to observe the day, the UN Women released a report yesterday.
UN Women is a United Nations entity institution working for gender equality and the empowerment of women established in July 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly.
In a report, it highlights the widening gender gap in social protection alarming two billion women and girls are without access to any form of social protection.
Despite some progress since 2015, the report points out on gendered poverty saying over 63 per cent of women globally still give birth without access to maternity benefits. Of this figure, 94 percent shows in sub-Saharan Africa.
Meanwhile, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said, nearly two million children suffering from severe wasting are at risk of death due to funding shortages for life-saving Ready-to-use-Therapeutic-Food (RUTF) to treat the condition.
RUTF is the most dangerous form of malnutrition that turns children dangerously thin with weak immune systems. It is an energy dense, micronutrient paste made from powdered milk, peanuts, butter, vegetable oil, sugar, and a mix of vitamins and minerals. It has helped bring millions of children back from the brink of death from severe malnutrition.
UNICEF said shortages of RUTF are already leaving children at risk of not receiving treatment in 12-hardest hit countries–Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Pakistan, Sudan, Madagascar, South Sudan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
Thus, UNICEF is seeking US $165 million to fund therapeutic feeding, treatment and care for the children who are at-risk of death.
