Over half a
billion dollars pledged to tackle severe wasting since July in an unprecedented
international response to the deepening child malnutrition crisis
Dr. Jassim Taqui
DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies
Islamabad, September 23, 2022: Governments, philanthropies, and private donors have
pledged approximately US$577 million since July in response to the deepening
child malnutrition crisis – with at least 60 percent of that amount committed
to directly supporting UNICEF’s work.
Roughly US$280 million
of the over half billion raised was pledged today at The Child
Malnutrition Crisis: Pledging to Save Lives – a high-level event
co-hosted by UNICEF, United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and the government
of Senegal at UNICEF Headquarters in New York.
The governments of
Canada, Ireland, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom; and
the Aliko Dangote Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Children’s
Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the Eleanor Crook Foundation, the Greta
Thunberg Foundation, Humanitarian Services of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, and King Philanthropies came together at the high-level
event during the 77th annual United Nations General Assembly
(UNGA) to address the growing food crisis.
The commitments were
made as climate-driven drought, conflict, and rising food prices continue to
drive up emergency levels of severe wasting in young children worldwide. In 15
countries hardest hit, including in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, a child
is being pushed into severe malnutrition every minute, according to a recent analysis by UNICEF.
“An escalating
malnutrition crisis is pushing millions of children to the brink of starvation
– and unless we do more, that crisis will become a catastrophe,” said
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “UNICEF is immensely grateful
for the pledges we have received, but we need further unrestricted funding to
reach children before it is too late. We cannot stand by and let children die –
not when we know how to prevent, detect, and treat severe wasting.”
Today’s commitments
build upon pledges made in July when USAID Administrator Samantha Power
announced an unprecedented contribution of US$200 million to UNICEF to detect
and treat severe child wasting. At that time, an additional US$50 million was
pledged by private philanthropies including Philanthropist and Chair of the
Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) Sir Chris Hohn, the Eleanor Crook
Foundation (ECF), The CRI Foundation, and The ELMA Relief Foundation, to
address the malnutrition crisis.
“The truth is that the
majority of children facing severe malnutrition, nearly two-thirds of children,
live in places that don’t normally receive humanitarian aid,” said USAID
Administrator Samantha Power. “We are working to change that, to recognize
that treatment for severe malnutrition should be accessible not just in
humanitarian settings, but in non-crisis settings as well.”
Severe wasting – which
makes children dangerously thin – is the most visible and lethal form of
undernutrition. Weakened immune systems increase the risk of death among
children under 5 by up to 11 times compared to well-nourished children.
In response, UNICEF
has scaled up its efforts in 15 countries most affected by the malnutrition
crisis. Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan,
Sudan, and Yemen are included in an Acceleration Plan calling for US$1.2
billion to help avert a rise in child deaths and mitigate the long-term damage
of severe wasting.
The pledges to UNICEF
will help provide services for the early prevention, detection, and treatment
of child wasting, and expand access to life-saving ready-to-use therapeutic
food (RUTF) and other essential nutritious commodities needed during crises.
During today’s event,
UNICEF and partners also launched an expansion of the Child Nutrition Fund, a
long-term multi-partner financing mechanism to support the early prevention,
detection, and treatment of child wasting. By working with governments to
consolidate and strategically allocate financial resources, the Child Nutrition
Fund aims to accelerate global progress and end the cycle of severe child wasting.
“We are witnessing an
unprecedented child malnutrition crisis. The fact that many millions of
children have to experience severe malnutrition in their first few years of
life is unacceptable,” said Co-founder and Chair of CIFF Chris Hohn. “We
already know many of the solutions for prevention, early detection, and
treatment of child wasting but we need to do more to ensure these solutions are
scaled. This requires sustainable long-term and coordinated funding. The early
success of the Child Nutrition Fund is incredibly encouraging and its expansion
into becoming the largest centralized response to combat child wasting at scale
is exactly what’s needed. I am pleased to announce the CIFF intends to allocate
an additional $40 million for addressing child wasting.”
“As we face global
challenges, including the ripple effects of COVID-19, we should always keep
acute malnutrition and stunting as priorities on the multilateral
agenda,” said Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Senegal to
the United Nations Diamante Diome. “Working with national and
international stakeholders, such as USAID, UNICEF, the World Food Programme,
and other multilateral and bilateral partners, Senegal has made great progress
in this regard. This shows that we can overcome the challenge of child acute
malnutrition and stunting, if we work collaboratively and with a sense of
urgency, based on our shared values. Senegal is committed to sharing the
experience and lessons it has learned in the process. That is why I am happy to
take part in this timely meeting alongside USAID and UNICEF.”
