USAID and co-investors philanthropist Sir Chris Hohn, the CRI Foundation (CRI), the Eleanor Crook Foundation (ECF), and the ELMA Relief Foundation have announced a $250 million commitment to UNICEF to combat child wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition.

According to ECF, the $200 million commitment from USAID is the largest single investment in malnutrition treatment in history and will be combined with commitments totaling $50 million from Hohn, CRI, ECF, and the ELMA Relief Foundation. Participating philanthropies also committed to raise at least $50 million more, to reach a target of $100 million of their collective resource.

Food prices driven up by the war in Ukraine, climate change shocks, other conflicts, and the ongoing socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 continue to exacerbate child wasting worldwide. Sustainably addressing wasting will require expanded and continued investment from all stakeholders. While child wasting is treatable in the form of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), fewer than one in four severely malnourished children have had access to treatment. The commitment will support a more than a 50 percent increase in the provision of RUTF, which is a combination of peanuts, milk powder, and a blend of micronutrients.

“With three packets of [RUTF] a day for roughly six weeks, the vast majority of severely malnourished children—some 90 percent—are able to recover, as opposed to some 90 percent who now perish,” said USAID administrator Samantha Power. “Despite the power of this incredible tool in the fight against child wasting, it is drastically underutilized. Most parents who are able to bring their children to clinics to seek treatment are met with a lack of supply. Today, together, we are addressing that. With this commitment, we will help get this lifesaving care into the mouths of an additional 2.4 million children—the largest leap in coverage on record.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Boezie)