‘More children are being born disabled because their mothers are starving’ — Irish missionary nun

An Irish Mercy Sister warned that children in Nairobi’s Mukuru slum are increasingly being born with disabilities due to malnutrition among pregnant mothers. Sister Mary Killeen, who has directed the Mukuru Promotion Centre since the mid-1980s, told The Irish Catholic that the community is facing its worst crisis in 40 years.

Sister Killeen attributed the rise in starvation, sickness, and poverty to cuts in international aid, specifically citing the dismantling of USAID. She noted that increased starvation over the last three years has led to higher rates of illness and birth defects.