Action Against Hunger (ACF) recently highlighted the lack of investment in health services in Bahr el Gazal, a semi-arid region in western Chad where the agency plans to help just under half of the 17,000 children who face life-threatening malnutrition. Mariana Merelo Lobo, director of operations at ACF UK, told AlertNet that helping local people deal with the impact of recurring droughts in the "forgotten" area would require a sustained operation lasting at least a year.