What is the Child Nutrition Fund?
The Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) is a new financing mechanism designed to accelerate the scale-up of sustainable policies, programs and supplies aimed at ending child wasting.
Why do we need a child nutrition fund?
Because child wasting is a tragedy. In 2020, an estimated 45 million children worldwide suffered from wasting at a young age. About a third of them require nutrition and therapeutic care. Despite two decades of progress in reducing child malnutrition globally, the number of children suffering from wasting is increasing due to a perfect storm of growing inequality, conflict and climate-related crises.
Because child wasting is preventable. Wasting does not occur when nutritious diets, essential nutrition services, and positive nutrition and care practices are accessible to women and children. However, prevention of wasting cannot be achieved with short-term funding, available only in emergencies and reserved only for treatment.
Because we can and must act quickly. Current global and national responses to child wasting are woefully inadequate, particularly in high prevalence and high mortality settings. We can and must transform how we protect children from potentially fatal wasting early in life. And this transformation begins with a fundamental shift in the way global and national responses to protect children from wasting in early childhood are financed and implemented.
Who is the Child Nutrition Fund for?
The CNF is designed to support government-led efforts in some of the countries with some of the highest numbers and/or proportions of children under 5 suffering from wasting.
As such, the CNF will support efforts led by governments in countries that have developed operational roadmaps under the United Nations Secretary-General’s plan. Global Action Plan (GAP) against child wasting. As of July 2023, the GAP includes the following 23 countries:
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Timor-Leste and Yemen.
What actions will the Child Nutrition Fund scale up?
The CNF is designed to support the scale-up of five key government-led actions for the early prevention, detection and treatment of early childhood wasting, as outlined in the GAP, recognizing that partners in implementation may need to support the direct delivery of these interventions during humanitarian crises. These five actions, selected based on their proven impact, scalability and profitability, are:
- Support for exclusive and continuous breastfeeding during the first two years of life, with appropriate feeding, stimulation and care, including adequate advice and support to caregivers and families.
- Adequate complementary foods, with micronutrient supplements (i.e. vitamin A) and home enrichment with micronutrient powders, including timely and quality advice and support to caregivers and families.
- Weight gain monitoring, nutritional counseling, micronutrient supplements (multiple micronutrient supplements or iron folic acid), deworming prophylaxis and malaria control for women, especially during pregnancy.
- Early detection of childhood wasting using mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement and treatment with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) through community programs, with training, adequate supervision and guidance.
- Dietary supplements intended for young children under 5 years of age (i.e. lipid and nutrient supplements in small quantities) and women, especially those who are pregnant and breastfeeding (i.e. supplements balanced in energy and protein).
