The number of children dying of malnutrition is increasing in Colombia

At least 109 children under the age of five have died of malnutrition this year in five departments of the country, the Ombudsman’s Office reported Tuesday, reporting a 92 percent increase in cases compared to last year.

The department with the most reported cases of children dying of malnutrition is La Guajira, in the extreme north, with 48 deaths, followed by Chocó (northwest) with 25, Bolívar with 14 and Cesar with 13, both in the north, and Vichada (south) with nine.

“As a society, we should be ashamed that we keep seeing children die because we cannot guarantee them adequate food,” lamented Ombudsman Carlos Camargo.

According to the official responsible for protecting human rights, it should be a “national priority” for the entire state to “work in a coordinated way to guarantee the lives of all children.”

The areas most affected by this situation are those where most of the population is indigenous or African-American.

The Ombudsman’s Office warned that, on average, 87 children aged 0 to 5 years per 100 inhabitants suffer from “acute malnutrition” in mainly indigenous departments such as Vichada (104 cases), La Guajira (83), and Guaviare (75).

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