Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), UNICEF, the Government of Senegal, and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation co-hosted “The Child Malnutrition Crisis: Pledging to Save Lives,” an event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The new commitments follow a call to action from Administrator Power in her address on the global food security crisis in July, where the United States committed to a $200 million investment to scale up access to treatment, including Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic Food (RUTF) – the largest commitment that has ever been made to treat severely malnourished children. The $280 million announced today includes new funding from donors around the globe, demonstrating the world’s commitment to helping to meet that pledge
Major philanthropies announcing new commitments included the Aliko Dangote Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, The CRI Foundation, Eleanor Crook Foundation, Greta Thunberg Foundation, and King Philanthropies. UN Member States, including Canada, Ireland, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, also joined the call to action, as did faith-based organization Humanitarian Services of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In total, actors across the spectrum announced over $280 million in new commitments at “The Child Malnutrition Crisis: Pledging to Save Lives.”