UN coalition funds national solutions against child wasting in conflict zones

UNICEF, WFP and WHO have launched an initiative to combat child wasting in humanitarian crises through prevention, detection and treatment strategies. 

With funding from three UN agencies, the project will research and put into action solutions against malnutrition.

Abigail Perry, director of nutrition at the WFP, comments: “This funding helps build the evidence base to enable us to take decisive action to protect women and young children — particularly in fragile contexts — from the devastating impacts of malnutrition. It also offers a crucial opportunity for our three agencies to collaborate effectively and achieve lasting improvements in nutrition outcomes.”

Immediate action is required, as recent research finds an additional one million children in Nigeria are expected to suffer acute malnutrition by April 2025 due to floods, violence and food shortages. Gaza is also facing imminent famine risk. 

Conflicts are responsible for the “hunger crisis” in 59 countries, according to CARE, with the situation being most acute in Haiti, Gaza and Sudan. In a previous interview with Nutrition Insight, the international organization flagged that women and girls often bear the most harrowing consequences of conflict-related malnutrition.

Meanwhile, a global “people’s” coalition recently condemned the “weaponization of food and starvation,” which exacerbates global nutrition crises, in a manifesto calling to reform food systems.

Dr. Victor Aguayo, global director of Child Nutrition and Development at UNICEF, promises: “Through this concerted action across three UN agencies, we will protect more vulnerable children and women from the devastating impacts of malnutrition in humanitarian crises.”

Aichata Sebo gives her 6-month-old child enriched porridge in Maraki, Mali (Image credit: UNICEF).Clear goals

UNICEF says in areas stricken with conflict, wasting in childhood is high, leading to increased child mortality and possibly irreversible growth and development consequences.

The joint initiative promises to study ways to prevent, detect and manage child wasting by 2030, including supporting national roadmaps. It also aims to find evidence and ways to scale approaches to prevent child wasting in food-insecure settings.

Additionally, it will aid governments in integrating the 2023 WHO Guidelines into national policies, focusing on implementing “innovative programming” in emergencies.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will be the global research partner. 

“IFPRI is pleased to work with our partners at UNICEF, WFP and WHO on this hugely important collaborative initiative to build evidence and program experience on how to address still unacceptably high levels of child wasting,” comments Dr. Purnima Menon, senior director of Food and Nutrition Policy at IFPRI.

Additionally, UNICEF notes that the initiative aligns with wider approaches to tackling child wasting in 15 countries facing high burdens between 2024 and 2026.

The joint initiative promises to study ways to prevent, detect and manage child wasting by 2030, including supporting national roadmaps.Wider alignments

Nutrition security was signaled as a global priority at the latest G20 Leaders’ Summit. The WHO recently told us that optimal nutrition is vital to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ahead of the 2025 Nutrition for Growth Summit, international organizations are ramping up efforts targeting vulnerable groups, including children, women and climate-impacted communities.

UNICEF notes the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, affirmed the nation’s commitment to tackling hunger, poverty and child wasting while announcing the new partnership at the G20.

“Partnerships like this are essential to increase efforts to prevent all forms of malnutrition to achieve the SDG targets on wasting and undernutrition,” adds Dr. Francesco Branca, director at the department of nutrition for health and development at WHO. “They help develop and scale up improved solutions addressing the fundamental drivers of malnutrition and to ensure a multi-sectoral approach with renewed efforts to link all relevant sectors.”