联合国：非洲之角儿童极度营养不良

The U.N. Children\'s Fund says drought-stricken areas of the Horn of Africa are afflicted by record high levels of malnutrition among children. The aid agency says tens of thousands of drought victims are fleeing to parts of Kenya and Ethiopia where they hope to find food.

联合国儿童基金会表示，非洲之角遭受干旱，当地儿童严重营养不良。这个机构说，数万受灾民众正逃往肯尼亚和埃塞俄比亚的一些地方，他们希望在那里找到食物。

The numbers are extremely alarming. The U.N. Children’s Fund estimates 480,000 children in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia will be severely malnourished this year. This is a 50 percent increase over last year’s figure.

营养不良的人数触目惊心。联合国儿童基金会估计，今年在索马里、肯尼亚和埃塞俄比亚将有48万儿童出现严重的营养不良。这个数字比去年增加了百分之50。

UNICEF finds the worst affected children are in southern Somalia, where at least one in three children is severely malnourished. UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado says humanitarian conditions there are the worst in a decade.

联合国儿童基金会发现，儿童营养不良最严重的地区是索马里南部，那里每3名儿童中至少就有1人严重营养不良。联合国儿童基金会女发言人梅尔卡多表示，那个地区的人道主义状况是10年来最为严峻的。

“Right now 2.85 million people, or one in three Somalis, is in crisis. That means lacking safe water and sanitation, health services, vulnerable to illness and at risk due to the conflict. In drought-affected areas of Kenya, monthly admissions for treatment of severe malnutrition are 78 percent higher than last year. In the Turkana district, that is up in the northeast, global acute malnutrition rates are the highest ever recorded in the district, at 37.4 percent,” Mercado said.

她说：“目前有285万索马里人，也就是说，三分之一的索马里人处于危机之中。他们缺乏安全的饮用水、卫生设施、医疗服务，非常容易感染疾病，由于冲突而处境危险。在肯尼亚遭受干旱影响的地区，每月因为严重营养不良而接受治疗的人数比去年高出了百分之78。在肯尼亚东北部的图尔卡纳地区，严重营养不良者的比例高达百分之37点4，是这个地区有史以来最高的。”

The United Nations reports more than 10 million people in the Horn of Africa are affected by the most severe drought to strike the region over the past 60 years. Two consecutive years or poor rain has resulted in crop failure and the death of up to 30 percent of livestock.

联合国报告说，在非洲之角地区有1千多万人受到60年来最严重干旱的影响。连续两年的干旱，或者雨水不足导致作物歉收，多达百分之30的牲畜死亡。

Aid agencies report an increase in food prices is pushing many moderately poor families over the edge. And, they say, people are fleeing to refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia in unprecedented numbers for food and help.

一些救援机构报告说，粮食价格上涨使很多贫困家庭陷入绝境。人们纷纷逃往肯尼亚和埃塞俄比亚境内的难民营，寻求食物和帮助。难民人数之多前所未有。

Mercado says almost half the children arriving in Ethiopia are malnourished. “In Melkadida refugee camp, crude death rates for young children are above the emergency threshold of four deaths per 10,000 children per day. The camps are extremely overcrowded, and the basics-safe water, sanitation, food, nutrition, shelter, are less than adequate,” Mercado said.

联合国儿童基金会发言人梅尔卡多表示，在抵达埃塞俄比亚的儿童当中，几乎有一半都营养不良。她说：“在梅尔卡迪达难民营，幼童的死亡率已经超过每天万分之四的紧急指标。难民营极度拥挤，缺乏基本安全饮用水、卫生设施、食物、营养和住处等。”

Mercado says UNICEF is working with the U.N. refugee agency to scale up assistance to children in the refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. She says the needs are huge. Somalia alone needs at least $10 million over the next month.

梅尔卡多表示，联合国儿童基金会正在和联合国难民署一道努力，加紧帮助肯尼亚和埃塞俄比亚难民营内的儿童。她说，需求是巨大的。仅仅索马里下个月就需要至少1千万美元的救援。

She says UNICEF and other aid agencies have very little cash in which to take care of the basic needs of the millions of drought victims. She warns many children will die of hunger if there is not enough money to deal with this humanitarian crisis.

梅尔卡多说，联合国儿童基金会和其它救援机构拿不出多少资金来照顾数百万干旱受害者的基本需求。她警告说，如果没有足够的资金来应对这场人道主义危机，很多儿童将因为饥饿而丧生。

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