UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 million children face disruptions to nutrition support and services this year due to dramatical funding cuts, leaving them at heightened risk of severe malnutrition and death, according to the latest estimates from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Catherine Russell, the UNICEF executive director, warned on Wednesday that great progress made in eradicating child starvation over the two decades could be wiped out.
"Since 2000, the number of stunted children under the age of five has fallen by 55 million, and the lives of millions of severely malnourished children have been saved," she said. "But steep funding cuts will dramatically reverse these gains and put the lives of millions more children at risk."
According to UNICEF's estimates, more than 2.4 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition could go without ready-to-use-therapeutic-food for the rest of the year.
Up to 2,300 centers providing critical care for kids suffering from severe wasting with medical complications are facing closure or severely scaling back services, and almost 28,000 UNICEF-supported outpatient therapeutic centers are also at risk.
The United States, as the biggest donor of the UN agencies, including UNICEF, has slashed aid budgets since President Donald Trump returned to office. The U.S. Department of State announced last month that it cut almost all of multi-year aid contracts after a sweeping pause on existing foreign aid.
The consequences of severe cuts in U.S. foreign aid will be especially devastating for vulnerable people across the world, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned.
Russell called on governments and donors to prioritise investments in health and nutrition programs for children, and contribute to the Child Nutrition Fund, launched by the agency in 2023, to address child and maternal malnutrition in the long-term.
"Good nutrition is the foundation of child survival and development, with impressive returns on investment," she said. ■
