Around 58.5 million children in Africa are suffering from stunting¹, creating an adverse² impact on the continent's economic potential, the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina said on Saturday evening.

 

非洲发展银行主席阿金武米·阿德希纳周六晚间表示，非洲约有5850万儿童发育不良，对这片大陆的经济发展带来了不利影响。

 

"Africa is the only continent where the number of stunted³ children has increased over the last two decades: 58.5 million in 2018, up from 50.3 million at the turn of the century."

 

"39 per cent of the world's stunted children and 28 per cent of the world's wasted children are in Africa. They are prone⁴ to inhibited⁵ intellectual and physical growth, and sometimes even premature⁶ death," said Adesina during the African leaders for nutrition high level dinner for heads of state in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

 

Adesina said the high number of stunted children in Africa means stunted economies tomorrow, with a loss in adult height by just one percent due to childhood stunting leading to a 1.4 percent loss in economic productivity.

 

The AfDB President said the bank has already instituted several initiatives to fight the blight⁷ of child stunting.

 

"The AfDB has set up the African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) to raise awareness⁸, accountability, and reinforce investment by African governments to end malnutrition⁹ among children.

 

"The AfDB has also launched the Continental¹⁰ Nutrition Accountability Scorecard at an AU summit in Feb. 2019. The scorecard provides heads of states with a snapshot of progress and areas where action is needed to meet the agreed nutrition goals," Adesina told the gathering¹¹.

 

Adesina also emphasized the bank is currently helping¹² individual African countries with anti-childhood stunting initiatives.

点击收听单词发音