UNICEF: 1.3 million children in Nigeria, Ethiopia at risk of severe malnutrition due to funding crisis

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that 1.3 million children in Ethiopia and Nigeria under the age of five, are at risk of severe acute malnutrition.

Kitty van der Heijden, UNICEF deputy executive director, spoke on Friday at a press briefing in Geneva, Switzerland.

She warned that dwindling financial support from international donors is threatening life-saving nutrition programmes. 

UNICEF, like other UN agencies, has faced a decline in contributions from major donors in recent years.

The situation worsened at the beginning of United States President Donald Trump’s term when his administration imposed a 90-day suspension on all US foreign aid. The US has historically been UNICEF’s largest donor.

Despite significant progress over the past 25 years, reducing the number of stunted children by 55 million, Heijden said a lack of funding was now reversing these gains.

“Earlier this week, I saw the consequences of the funding crisis firsthand when I visited the Afar region in the north of Ethiopia and Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria. Due to funding gaps in both countries, nearly 1.3 million children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition could lose access to treatment over the course of the year – leaving them at heightened risk of death,” she said.

“In Afar, a region that is prone to recurrent drought and floods, I visited a mobile health and nutrition team providing life-saving services to pastoralist communities in remote areas without health clinics. These teams are critical to supporting children with vital assistance, including treatment of severe wasting, vaccinations and essential medicines.

“We estimate that without new sources of funding, UNICEF will run out of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food (RUTF) to treat children suffering from severe wasting in May – which could have dire consequences for the nearly an estimated 74,500 children in Ethiopia who require treatment each month.

“In Nigeria, where around 80,000 children per month require treatment, we could run out of RUTF supplies sometime between this month and the end of May.”

The UNICEF official appealed to governments and donors to step up funding to support UNICEF’s nutrition programs, warning that failure to do so would have devastating consequences for millions of children worldwide.

“In 2025, we estimate that over 213 million children in 146 countries will require humanitarian assistance. We cannot afford to fail these children,” she added.

“Every dollar invested in nutrition programs generates a return of up to $16 in economic benefits. We urge governments and donors to prioritize investments in children’s nutrition and wellbeing.”