Tanzania cuts food aid to refugees
Burundian refugees gather on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Kagunga village, Kigoma IMAGE -Human Rights Watch
DAR-ES-SALAAM, (CAJ News) – TANZANIA is planning to reduce food rations for thousands of refugees in the wake of a quadrupling refugee population and dire lack of funds.
Unless contributions are forthcoming, rations will be decreased starting this week. There has been a lukewarm response to aid agencies requests for funding.
As a result, refugees, mostly women and children, will receive only 63 percent of the recommended daily intake of 2 100 kilocalories.
Ration reductions have far-reaching and potentially life-altering consequences for refugees.
Typically, these consequences disproportionately affect some of the most vulnerable including pregnant and lactating women and children under five.
Reduced kilocalorie and nutrition intake can result in acute malnutrition and increased vulnerability to disease.
As a result of skirmishes in neighbouring Burundi, Tanzania is hosting about 165 000 Burundian refugees, the largest number in the region. Some 300 000 Burundians have fled their country to neighbouring countries.
– CAJ NEWS
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