UNICEF, EU train journalists to tackle malnutrition in Northeast

UNICEF, EU train journalists to tackle malnutrition in Northeast

By Tada Jutha, Maiduguri

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the 27-member European Union (EU), has trained journalists in tackling acute severe malnutrition (SAM) among a million children in the Northeast.

According to the Fund, the malnourished children are from the over a decade-long conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

Declaring the training session open on Monday in Damaturu, the UNICEF Nutrition Manager, Joseph Senesie, disclosed, “The EU-funded grant is aimed at fighting the rising cases of malnutrition in the conflict-affected communities of the region.
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The one-day media dialogue with the training of about three dozen journalists was also to enhance their understanding of how to cover what Senesie described as critical health issues on child malnutrition and other preventable diseases like cholera, polio, malaria and diphtheria.

During a two-hour field trip, the journalists before the training session assessed some of the Outpatient (OTP) health facilities, including the Central Medical Store (CMS) along Gashua Road.

At the Gwange Primary Health Care Center, the health workers demonstrated the use of Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) coloured tapes for screening children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). While health officials at the Mairi Primary Health Care Center showcased appetite testing protocols, which are used to determine the eligibility for outpatient care.

Speaking on the significance of tackling malnutrition in the state, the Yobe State Nutrition Officer, Hadiza Maina Adamu, disclosed, “We have over 3,400 cartons of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF),” stressing that they are critical food supplements used to treat malnourished children in the state.

UNICEF Nutrition Manage attributed malnutrition to the lean season, starting from May to September 2026, within which malnutrition cases among the children continue to rise.

Senesie also expressed hope that this year’s malnutrition cases in the Northeast would not surpass previous levels, crediting EU support for enabling treatments for over 40,000 children in the previous intervention cycles.

The State’s Nutritional Officer, Hadiza Maina Adamu, who represented the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, said that the state is in an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 3, indicating that there is a serious level of food insecurity, particularly in the desert-affected communities of Nguru, Bade, Machina, Yusufari, Yunusari and Geidam.

Hadiza further revealed, “The Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) currently stood at 10.8%, according to the 2025 surveillance data,” stating that there is an improvement of 14% from the previous years, though the rate remains critical in the state.

She noted that since 2010, treatment services have expanded significantly to include 306 Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP) sites, stabilisation centres, and 120 Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme (TSFP) sites.

In a lead paper presented by Dr Babagana Kundi Machina, the Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Primary Health Care Board (YPHCB), emphasised that the EU grant has been instrumental in ensuring an uninterrupted supply of therapeutic food and milk, which facilitated sustained treatment and community-based screening in each of the 17 local government areas.