UNICEF Faces Urgent Funding Crisis, Threatening Child Malnutrition Aid

UNICEF warns it will deplete its lifesaving food supplies for children with severe malnutrition in Ethiopia and Nigeria due to a funding shortage, intensified by U.S. foreign aid cuts. The potential impact may leave 1.3 million children unsupported, escalating a crisis that hampers global humanitarian aid efforts.

UNICEF has issued a dire warning that it will soon exhaust its lifesaving food supplies for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Ethiopia and Nigeria, potentially impacting 1.3 million vulnerable children. The organization cites a severe funding shortfall, worsened by recent U.S. foreign aid cuts, as the primary cause.

Kitty Van der Heijden, UNICEF's deputy executive director, emphasized the urgency of the situation, noting that 70,000 children in Ethiopia reliant on Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food will be left without support by May without new funding. The crisis is echoed in Nigeria, where supplies are expected to run out by the month's end.

Recent reductions in international contributions have exacerbated the issue, particularly after the U.S. imposed a 90-day pause on foreign aid. The resulting funding crisis threatens broader humanitarian relief efforts, with health programs for pregnant women and children also severely impacted, as seen in Ethiopia, where mobile health clinics have been drastically reduced.

(With inputs from agencies.)