34 children die from malnutrition in South Sudan

At least 34 children have died from malnutrition in the first week of September in South Sudan's Bentiu town, a UN spokesman has said.

"Water and sanitation organisations are stepping up activities to address malnutrition and child mortality," Xinhua news agency quoted UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric as saying on Monday, citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"OCHA says that malnutrition remains a major concern in South Sudan, with about a quarter of a million children severely malnourished," he said.

UNICEF and the World Food Programme recently launched a joint nutrition scale-up plan, which will see the agencies assist over two million people -- children, pregnant women and new mothers -- for the treatment and prevention of acute malnutrition.