“I’m tired. For God’s sake get us out. I want treatment,” moans Mohamed, a young Syrian boy, as UNICEF health staff attend to him, revealing his scrawny body with clearly visible bones. On Friday, UNICEF officials confirmed reports of mass malnutrition among children in the besieged city of Madaya. Two large convoys of aid supplies were finally able to reach the town, which has a population of 42,000, after reports that 32 people had died of starvation in recent weeks. The convoys, which also included support from the Syrian Red Cross, marked the first aid to reach Madaya since October 2015. Shortly after arrival, UNICEF revealed that it had witnessed the death of a severely malnourished 16-year-old boy. “UNICEF … can confirm that cases of severe malnutrition were found among children,” read a statement released by UNICEF. UNICEF added that 35 children were screen in Madaya, with 80 percent showing signs of moderate to severe malnutrition. Along with witnessing the death of a severely malnourished boy, a 17-year-old boy in a “life threatening condition” and a pregnant woman needed evacuation, said the spokesperson of UNICEF. In the coming weeks, the…
A Starving Syrian Child Has Died in Front of UN Aid Workers as Hundreds Starve
January 16, 2016
