UNICEF Says 7.3m Adolescent Girls, Women of Reproductive Age in Nigeria are Undernourished

•Nigeria, others lose $1tn in GDP to exclusion of women from digital world, UN resident coordinator reveals

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi and Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) yesterday declared that the number of adolescent girls and women aged 15 to 49 years, who were undernourished has soared from 5.6 million in 2018 to 7.3 million in 2021 in Nigeria.

It placed Nigeria among the 12 hardest hit countries by the global food and nutrition crisis.

According to a new global report released by UNICEF, which was made available to journalists, 12 countries – including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen – represented the epicentre of a global nutrition crisis that had, “been increased by recent impacts of COVID-19 and exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and ongoing drought, conflict, and instability in some countries.”

The report with the theme: “Undernourished and overlooked: A Global Nutrition Crisis in Adolescent Girls and Women – issued ahead of International Women’s Day (IWD), warned that the ongoing crises, aggravated by unending a gender inequality were deepening a nutrition crisis among adolescent girls and women that had already shown little improvement in the last two decades.

“This nutrition crisis is pushing millions of mothers and their children into hunger and severe malnutrition,” UNICEF’s Executive Director, Catherine Russell said.

“Without urgent action from the international community, the consequences could last for generations to come.”

According to the report – an unprecedented and comprehensive look at the state of adolescent girls’ and women’s nutrition globally – more than one billion adolescent girls and women suffer from undernutrition (including underweight and short height), deficiencies in essential micronutrients, and anaemia, with devastating consequences for their lives and wellbeing.

It added: “In Nigeria, 55 per cent of adolescent girls and women suffer from anaemia while nearly half of Nigerian women of reproductive age do not consume the recommended diet of at least five out of 10 food groups (grains and tubers, pulses, nuts and seeds, dairy, meat, poultry and fish, eggs, dark green leafy vegetables, other vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables, other vegetables and other fruits) according to the 2022 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey.

“Inadequate nutrition during girls’ and women’s lives can lead to weakened immunity, poor cognitive development, and an increased risk of life-threatening complications – including during pregnancy and childbirth – risking mother’s lives, also, with dangerous and irreversible consequences for their children’s survival, growth, learning, and future earning capacity.

“For example, in Nigeria, 12 million children under 5 are stunted, meaning they are too short for their age due to malnutrition. Of those, about half become stunted during pregnancy and the first six months of life, the 500-day period when a child is fully dependent on maternal nutrition, according to a new analysis in the report.”

The release explained that, “to prevent undernutrition in children, we must also address malnutrition in adolescent girls and women,” Russell added.

According to the report, “South Asia and sub-Saharan African remain the epicentre of the nutrition crisis among adolescent girls and women, home to 2 in 3 adolescent girls and women suffering from underweight globally, and 3 in 5 adolescent girls and women with anaemia.

“Meanwhile, adolescent girls and women from the poorest households are twice as likely to suffer from underweight as those from the wealthiest households.

“Global crises continue to disproportionately disrupt women’s access to nutritious food. In 2021, there were 126 million more food insecure women than men, compared to 49 million more in 2019, more than doubling the gender gap of food insecurity”, the release stated.

UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Cristian Munduate, also stated that, “In Nigeria, the 2022 Cadre Harmonise analysis published by the government shows that 17 million Nigerians are suffering from acute food insecurity, and this is likely to increase to 25 million in lean season this year (FMARD, 2022)”

“Since last year, UNICEF has scaled up its efforts in the countries hardest hit by the global nutrition crisis, including in Nigeria with an acceleration plan to prevent, detect, and treat wasting in women and children.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Matthias Schmale, has said the IWD should be used to remember the many challenges women still face in their daily lives, such as gender-based violence, discrimination, marginalization.

Schmale lamented that the exclusion of women from the digital world had shaved $1 trillion from the GDP of low- and middle-income countries including Nigeria over the past decade.

In his message on the IWD, Schmale said the day celebrated worldwide January 8, was a call-to-action to stand up for women’s fundamental rights, to strengthen protection against violence and abuse, and to accelerate women’s participation in the economic, social, and political life of Nigeria.

He explained that this year’s theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality” focuses on how innovations and technology can enhance gender equality and women’s empowerment, although women account for nearly half the world’s population, 259 million fewer women have access to the Internet than men.

 He noted that the digital gender gap comes with massive costs, adding that: “according to a report from UN Women, the exclusion of women from the digital world has shaved $1 trillion from the GDP of low- and middle-income countries including Nigeria over the past decade.”

He recalled that one of the many formidable women of this country, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (now heading up the World Trade Organisation), once said, “investing in women is smart economics, and investing in girls, catching them upstream, is even smarter economics.”

 He agreed that this was undoubtedly true, noting that closing the digital gender divide would be smart economics for Nigeria and for its development aspirations.

He said: “Innovations and technology should be a major part of the services of the Government of Nigeria. The country’s development partners including the UN must help close the digital gender gap and improve the lives of Nigerian women and girls.

“One of the areas we should invest in is rural women’s access to mobile phones. Having opportunities for mobile transfers, improves their opportunities to sell agricultural products. Mobile phone access enhances women’s economic productivity and facilitates direct market access. In parts of Nigeria where there is the additional challenge of insecurity, mobile phones are essential for women and girls.

“A second area worthy of investment is in digital platforms for women entrepreneurs. They are key to bridging the gender gap in business and the economy. Through digital platforms and apps, women entrepreneurs can reach more customers and learn more about their businesses through live feedback.”

He also said: “The private sector is key to advancing gender equality through innovations and technology . The private sector, particularly venture capital, can be a powerful force in removing barriers and driving progress for women’s entrepreneurship by providing digital platforms and resources that are otherwise inaccessible to women.”

Schmale added: “We must promote digital literacy in primary and secondary schools to enhance the employability and skills of young women.

“As we celebrate the IWD 2023, let’s keep investment in innovations and technology at the centre of our transformative agenda. Closing the digital gender gap will help us achieve a better Nigeria and a better world for all.”

In a related development, the founder of Women Foundation for Nation Building (WINBAFRICA), Dr. Bukola Bello Jaiyesimi, has called on all women  around the world not to lose focus in the global hour of numerous opportunities that transcends gender equality while activating the theme for this year’s celebration to also remember the strength women possess to build institutions that would cater for the concerns of the global hour and the future towards our sustainability and betterment of the world.

 “As we advance into the future realities of the global hour leaves nations, peoples and organisations to grapple with the fallout of economic and social challenges, it is imperative that government, social entrepreneurs and businesses, collaborate with women to open new vistas of cooperation, access, growth and development,” she added.