UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) is seeking$165 million to fund therapeutic food, treatment and care for the two million children who are at-risk of death, in an update to its “No Time to Waste plan.”
The UN agency, in a statement on Wednesday, said nearly two million children suffering from severe wasting were at risk of death due to funding shortages.
It stated that there were at risk of death due to funding shortages for life-saving Ready-to-use-Therapeutic-Food (RUTF) to treat the condition, which is the most dangerous form of malnutrition.
The UN agency said that “No Time to Waste plan” initiative was launched in 2022 to respond to the global food and nutrition crisis.
Since then, UNICEF has raised over $900 million to scale up programmes, services and supplies for the early prevention, detection and treatment of child wasting.
As a result, 21.5 million children and women received essential services, while 46 million children were reached with early detection services and 5.6 million accessed life-saving treatment.
No Time to Waste 2024 outlines the urgent funding shortfalls that are putting young lives in danger.
The appeal also emphasises the need for continuity of local manufacturing of essential nutrition supplies which is vital for sustaining interventions and improving community resilience against malnutrition.
To address severe child malnutrition in the long term, UNICEF launched the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) in 2023, with the support of the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.
The CNF goals include supporting local and regional production of fortified foods, food supplements and RUTF for young children in areas experiencing high levels of child malnutrition in efforts to circumvent global supply chain disruptions, reduce environmental impacts of shipment, and boost job opportunities and economic growth within communities.
Once fully implemented, the CNF will help insulate countries from the funding shortages and fluctuations in demand currently driving part of the growing RUTF shortages. (NAN)
