Five United Nations agencies are calling for accelerated progress on the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting, as increasing numbers of children suffer from acute malnutrition in the face of ongoing conflicts, climate shocks, and the impacts of COVID-19. Currently, more than 30 million children in the 15 worst-affected countries, including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, the Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen, are affected by wasting, or acute malnutrition. Of these, 8 million children are severely wasted, the deadliest form of undernutrition.
The Global Action Plan, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to prevent, detect and treat acute malnutrition among children in these countries through a multi-sectoral approach, including maternal and child nutrition, food, health, water and sanitation, and social protection systems.
In response to the growing crisis, the UN agencies have identified five priority actions to address acute malnutrition in countries affected by conflict and natural disasters, and in humanitarian emergencies. These include scaling up coordinated efforts, strengthening social safety nets and food assistance, and increasing investment in support of a coordinated UN response.
“This situation is likely to deteriorate even further in 2023,” warned Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “We must ensure availability, affordability and accessibility of healthy diets for young children, girls, and pregnant and lactating women. We need urgent action now to save lives, and to tackle the root causes of acute malnutrition, working together across all sectors,” he added.