Ismail is screened for malnutrition in Central Darfur. ©
UNICEF/UNI653168/Tarig
Reductions in
donor funding threaten to unravel decades of progress for
the world’s most vulnerable children and women.
At
least 14 million children are expected to face disruptions
to nutrition support and services because of recent and
expected global funding cuts, leaving them at heightened
risk of severe malnutrition and death – according to initial
analyses issued by UNICEF as world leaders gather at the
Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris.
The funding
crisis comes at a time of unprecedented need for children
who continue to face record levels of displacement, new and
protracted conflicts, disease outbreaks, and the deadly
consequences of climate change – all of which are
undermining their access to adequate nutrition.
“Over
the last decades, we have made impressive progress in
reducing child malnutrition globally because of a shared
commitment and sustained investment,” said UNICEF Executive
Director Catherine Russell. “Since 2000, the number of
stunted children under the age of five has fallen by 55
million, and the lives of millions of severely malnourished
children have been saved. But steep funding cuts will
dramatically reverse these gains and put the lives of
millions more children at risk.”
Additional impacts
across 17 high priority countries due to funding cuts
include:
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
– More than 2.4 million children suffering
from severe acute malnutrition could go without
Ready-to-use-Therapeutic-Food (RUTF) for the remainder of
2025.
– Up to 2,300 life-saving stabilisation centres
– providing critical care for children suffering from severe
wasting with medical complications – are at risk of closing
or severely scaling back services.
– Almost 28,000
UNICEF-supported outpatient therapeutic centres for the
treatment of malnutrition are at risk, and in some cases
have already stopped operating.
Today,
levels of severe wasting in children under five remain
gravely high in some fragile contexts and humanitarian
emergencies. Adolescent girls and women are especially
vulnerable. Even before the funding cuts, the number of
pregnant and breastfeeding women and adolescent girls
suffering from acute malnutrition soared from 5.5 million to
6.9 million – or 25 per cent – since 2020. UNICEF expects
these figures to rise without urgent action from donors as
well as adequate investments from national
governments.
“UNICEF is calling on
governments and donors to prioritise investments in health
and nutrition programmes for children and is urging national
governments to allocate more funding to domestic nutrition
and health services. Good nutrition is the foundation of
child survival and development, with impressive returns on
investment. Dividends will be measured in stronger families,
societies and countries, and a more stable world,” said
Russell.
UNICEF is determined to stay and deliver for
the world’s children by continuing to prioritise
high-impact programmes, optimise resources, and accelerate
cost-saving measures. But urgent and immediate action is
needed to mitigate the impact of the global funding crisis
on children, protect the most vulnerable, and safeguard
their futures. To address child and maternal malnutrition in
the long-term – including through the prevention, detection,
and treatment of child undernutrition – UNICEF launched the
Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) in 2023, with the support of the
UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, the Gates
Foundation, and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.
UNICEF continues to urge governments, partners and
philanthropic donors to contribute to this lifesaving fund
and other flexible funding instruments for children and
women.
About
UNICEF
UNICEF, the United Nations
agency for children, works to protect the rights of every
child, everywhere, especially the most disadvantaged
children and in the toughest places to reach. Across more
than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes
to help children survive, thrive, and fulfil their
potential.
