Connecticut ( CNN ) -- Throughout my travels with UNICEF -- from Angola , to Central African Republic , Chad , the Democratic Republic of Congo , Haiti , Sudan and Uganda -- I have met countless young girls and boys whose bodies and minds have been permanently damaged because they were malnourished during the first 1,000 days of their lives . Around 170 million children under the age of five are stunted -- their bodies and brains can not develop to full capacity . A stunted child has difficulty in learning and in surviving . Such children are up to four times more likely to die from all causes -- including easily preventable diseases . Read more : Child stunting a 'silent emergency , ' says Beckham . For too long , stunting has been a silent crisis -- a personal tragedy for each family . But the suffering of some 170 million children constitutes a global catastrophe that calls for an urgent response . Traveling for UNICEF for over more than a decade , my focus has been on countries -- particularly in Africa -- that are being impacted by conflict including the Darfur region , South Sudan , Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- areas convulsed by violence . I have met countless families who have nothing to eat because they are on the run often hiding deep in the bush . Read more : Indian state 's battle to build up its babies . But it is not only conflict that is leaving children so vulnerable . Last February , I paid a second visit to the sand swept town of Mao in the west of Chad along the belt of the Sahel . Drought , failed crops and skyrocketing food prices have left people with little to nothing to eat . Mothers carry emaciated children long distances across the sand to reach UNICEF-supported health centers for life-saving fortified foods . Often it is too late . At this moment one million children throughout the Sahel region of Africa are at risk of dying . They are in urgent need of our support . Wherever there is poverty , it is the children who pay the highest price . But here is a story of hope . When I visited Haiti before the earthquake , the stunting rates had been stubbornly high -- about 31 % . Then , on January 12 , 2010 , the earthquake struck causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries . The devastation affected three million people , two thirds of them children . But the Haitian government and the international community joined forces and in just two years something extraordinary resulted . That stubborn stunting rate dropped to 23 % . There is more work to do , but we can see that even in challenging circumstances it is possible to work together to ensure that the world 's most vulnerable children , pregnant women and mothers have access to food and drinkable water . Wherever I go , I am always struck by the children . In the face of their courage , resilience and hope , I do n't see how we can allow ourselves the luxury of feeling overwhelmed or helpless . We have the tools , we know what must be done . In the name of some 170 million children let 's pull together and end the obscenity of hunger and stunting .
100 million children worldwide suffer stunting due to malnutrition . Condition permanently damages young children , impedes ability to develop , grow . International help is urgently needed to reduce levels of poverty . Stunting rates exist in Haiti due to damage from the 2010 earthquake .