Today, 270 million people equivalent to the combined population of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy are on the brink of starvation. This number has doubled over the last 12 months. And it is the world s children who are suffering most.
An estimated 11 million children under the age of five face extreme hunger or starvation in 11 countries in Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Asia. Of these, 168,000 will die of malnutrition by the end of 2022 unless they receive emergency support. And a total of 73 million primary schoolchildren in 60 low-income countries are chronically hungry.
Hunger was already on the rise before the coronavirus pandemic, mostly as a result of war and conflict, and climate change exacerbated it. But the secondary effects of the pandemic have created a global hunger crisis.
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BBC News
By Nduka Orjinmo
image copyrightGetty Images
image captionTwo daughters of Humaira Mustapha were kidnapped when gunmen attacked a girls school in Zamfara state
Since December, more than 600 students have been abducted from schools in north-west Nigeria, highlighting a worrying development in the country s kidnap-for-ransom crisis.
Friday s kidnapping of nearly 300 students from the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara state, which ended with their release, was the second mass kidnap from schools in less than 10 days. Twenty-seven boys and their teachers who were taken from a school in Kagara, Niger state on 17 February were released on Saturday.
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Why schoolchildren are being abducted in Nigeria
Since December, more than 600 students have been abducted from schools in north-west Nigeria, highlighting a worrying development in the country s kidnap-for-ransom crisis.
Friday s kidnapping of 317 students from the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara state, was the second mass kidnap from schools in less than 10 days. Twenty-seven boys and their teachers who were taken from a school in Kagara, Niger state on 17 February were released on Saturday.
The authorities say recent attacks on schools in the north-west have been carried out by bandits , a loose term for kidnappers, armed robbers, cattle rustlers, Fulani herdsmen and other armed militia operating in the region who are largely motivated by money.
More than 300 schoolgirls have been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from a school in Nigeria s north-western Zamfara state, police say.
A deserted school dormitory where some of the more than 300 girls had been sleeping prior to the kidnapping.
Photo: AFP
Security officers have been dispatched to the town of Jangebe where the girls were seized early on Friday morning.
Local officials have confirmed the attack but have not given more details.
This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks. Armed gangs often seize schoolchildren for ransom.
At least 42 people, including 27 students, who were kidnapped last week in Kagara, in neighbouring Niger state, are yet to be released.