At least 233 children under five years old died of starvation in Colombia in 2023, according to the country’s Ombudsman’s Office.
Ombudsman Carlos Camargo raised the alarm based on statistics of the National Health Institute (INS), which confirmed the deaths.
The real number of deaths is likely higher as the INS is still investigating 57 deaths that could be attributed to a lack of food.
At least 70 of the child deaths occurred in La Guajira, a province in the north of Colombia with a large indigenous population.
In Choco, a province in the west with a majority black population, at least 46 children died of hunger last year.
The full enjoyment of the rights of children requires access to and effective guarantee of their food security, especially as they are subjects of special constitutional protection, and this is not exactly happening.
Ombudsman Carlos Camargo
Apart from the deaths, the INS also registered 24,226 children that suffered moderate and severe undernourishment.
This is a 14% increase compared to 2022 when the INS registered 21,195 similar cases.
More than a quarter of these children were members of indigenous communities.
Communities with most cases of undernourishment
- Wayuu (2223)
- Embera (457)
- Sikuani (420)
- Embera Katio (285)
- Embera Chami (197)
- Arhuaco (147)
- Yukpa (141)
- Guayabero (84)
- Nasa (71)
- Embera Dobida (69)
The ombudsman urged authorities to increase efforts to combat hunger and malnourishment in compliance with a 2020 resolution that sought to combat child hunger.
We need our calls to be heeded so that no more children die of malnourishment. It is time that government institutions at different levels implement comprehensive plans to ensure that children do not continue to be affected by food insecurity.
Ombudsman Carlos Camargo
More than 6.1 million people in Colombia lived in extreme poverty in 2022, according to data released by statistics agency DANE in September of last year.
