BANGUI, 7 July 2021 – At least 80,000 children under the age of five are currently at risk of severe acute malnutrition across the Central African Republic (CAR) - a 29 per cent increase compared to projections for 2021 , UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) announced today. The UN agencies also warned that over 632,000 people - more than one in eight people – will fall into a catastrophic hunger situation between the first week of July and the end of the lean season without urgent action. Across the country, 40 per cent of children under five are already suffering from chronic malnutrition , a rate above the emergency threshold of 30 percent.