"We are facing a funding bottleneck at a very critical moment. The planting season is only a couple of months away," said U.N. Assistant Secretary General Robert Piper.
This year, 20 million people in the region face food insecurity, and "five million children are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition," the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.
"If humanitarian operations are delayed or have to scale down, the full impact will be felt in a couple of months, and the most vulnerable families will be the first to suffer," said Piper.
Sahel countries, which include land-locked Chad, Mali and Niger, are among the most isolated areas of the world. "Access is often challenging and delivering aid takes time," said Piper.
By Ruchi Singh
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
