Skip to main content
Home
DONARE
  • German
  • English

Main navigation

  • Home
    • Humanitarian Crisis Relief
    • Children in Need
    • Hunger and Food Insecurity
    • Refugees and IDPs
    • Medical Humanitarian Aid
    • Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations
    • Vulnerable Groups
    • Human Rights Organizations
    • Climate Crisis and Climate Change
    • US Organizations
    • UK Organizations
    • Canadian Organizations
    • Australian Organizations
    • Directory
  • News
    • All headlines
    • News Monitor
    • Articles
    • Millions will die because of brutal funding cuts
    • Donate for humanitarian causes
    • Climate change & humanitarian crises
    • Humanitarian action is needed now
    • Humanitarian aid & human rights
    • The world's largest economies must do more
    • Why I donate to CERF
    • Thank you
    • How to write to a Member of Parliament
    • Reputable donation organizations in the United States
    • Earmarked or unearmarked donations
  • Background
    • Humanitarian Emergencies
    • Key Players in Humanitarian Aid
    • Forgotten Crises
    • Where does your money go?
    • Largest Humanitarian Donors
    • Websites for Experts and Professionals
    • Information for Journalists
    • Humanitarian Jobs
    • Glossary
  • Ways to Help
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Hold Your Government to Account
    • Volunteering in Humanitarian Aid
    • Start a Petition or Sign a Petition
    • Sponsor a Child
  • About us
    • Welcome to DONARE
    • Archive
    • Content
    • Tags
    • Topics
    • Support us
    • Contact
    • Donare means donate

Breadcrumb

  1. Humanitarian News

Acute malnutrition threatens the lives of millions of vulnerable children

By SDK, 13 January, 2023

Five United Nations agencies have called for urgent action to protect the most vulnerable children in the 15 countries hardest hit by an unprecedented food and nutrition crisis. The appeal was published in a joined statement Thursday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to the UN agencies, currently, more than 30 million children in the 15 worst-affected countries suffer from wasting – or acute malnutrition – and 8 million of these children are severely wasted, the deadliest form of undernutrition. The worst-affected countries are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.

While key health, nutrition and other life-saving services are becoming less accessible, conflict, climate shocks, rising costs of living, and the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 are leaving increasing numbers of children acutely malnourished. Acute malnutrition is a major threat to children’s lives and to their long-term health and development, the impacts of which are felt by individuals, their communities and their countries.    

In response, the five UN agencies are calling for accelerated progress on the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting. It aims to prevent, detect and treat acute malnutrition among children in the worst-affected countries. The plan addresses the need for a multi-sectoral approach and highlights priority actions across maternal and child nutrition through the food, health, water and sanitation, and social protection systems.

The UN agencies call for decisive and timely action to prevent this crisis from becoming a tragedy for the world’s most vulnerable children. All agencies urge for greater investment in support of a coordinated UN response that will meet the unprecedented needs of this growing crisis, before it is too late.

Wasting or acute malnutrition is a form of undernutrition caused by a decrease in food consumption and/or illness that results in sudden weight loss or oedema. Children with acute malnutrition have low weight for height. They may also have nutritional oedema and other related pathological clinical signs.

Children with acute malnutrition have weakened immune systems and are at higher risk of dying from common childhood diseases. Child wasting – defined as low weight for height – is the most dangerous form of undernutrition. Severe wasting is the deadliest form, as severely wasted children are 12 times more likely to die than a well-nourished child.

The Global Action Plan on Child Wasting is a joint initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Further information

Website: Global Action Plan on Child Wasting
https://www.childwasting.org/

Full text: Urgent action needed as acute malnutrition threatens the lives of millions of vulnerable children, joint press release by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO), published January 12, 2023
https://www.who.int/news/item/12-01-2023-urgent-action-needed-as-acute-malnutrition-threatens-the-lives-of-millions-of-vulnerable-children

Tags

  • Children
  • Global Food Crisis

Latest news

  • Report: 122 million people displaced worldwide amid devastating funding cuts
  • Haiti faces record displacement as 1.3 million people flee gang violence
  • Sudan emergency: WFP needs more support to stop famine and its spread
  • North-east Nigeria faces worst malnutrition crisis in five years
  • Lebanon: Extensive damage reported after Israeli airstrikes target southern Beirut
  • Donors condemn deadly attacks on humanitarian workers in Sudan
  • International Criminal Court: UN human rights chief condemns US sanctions against judges
  • Gaza: Dozens killed, hundreds injured as Israeli forces shoot civilians trying to access food
  • South Sudan: Escalating hostilities force tens of thousands to flee
  • NGO: Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Mozambique top list of neglected displacement crises in 2024
  • Humanitarian Coordinator: Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Sudan must stop
  • Catastrophic situation in Gaza is the worst since the war began, says UN
  • Rights group: Chaotic and abrupt US foreign aid cuts put millions of lives at risk
  • Commission of Inquiry: Russian forces commit crimes against humanity in Ukraine
  • Myanmar: UN report outlines pathways out of catastrophic human rights crisis
  • Mozambique: New displacement and funding cuts intensify humanitarian crisis
  • South Sudan: UN human rights chief condemns escalating hostilities
  • Despite progress, humanitarian needs in Syria remain staggering and complex
  • Gaza: Palestinians starve to death as humanitarian catastrophe rages on
  • Chad: Humanitarian situation deteriorates amid massive influx of Sudanese refugees
  • Over 295 million people in world's most fragile regions face acute hunger
  • Sudan: Crucial Adre crossing remains open for humanitarian operations
  • Yemen remains gripped by worsening humanitarian crisis, escalating regional tensions
  • Gaza: UN relief chief urges Security Council to act decisively to prevent genocide
  • Global number of internally displaced people reaches record 83.4 million
  • DR Congo: Funding cuts force humanitarian agencies to reprioritize life-saving assistance
  • Colombia: 50,000 civilians cut off from essential services in Chocó region
  • Sahel crisis: WFP warns of intensifying hunger as millions of lives are at stake
  • Sudan war: Drone attacks on Port Sudan threaten humanitarian aid
  • Gaza: Humanitarian catastrophe deepens as mass starvation looms
  • Haiti: Armed gang violence causes more deaths and displacement
  • Myanmar: Attacks on civilians continue even as earthquakes deepen humanitarian crisis
  • Afghanistan: Humanitarian crisis deepens amid forced returns, massive funding cuts
  • Gaza: Children face starvation as food runs out
  • Colombia: Funding cuts leave displaced people without support
  • Sudan: WFP reaches people facing or at risk of famine
  • Yemen: US airstrikes kill civilians, destroy civilian infrastructure
  • Ethiopia: WFP warns of rising hunger and malnutrition
  • DR Congo: Escalation in eastern provinces leads to worst situation in decades
  • Gaza: Humanitarian supplies near total depletion after seven weeks of aid blockade
RSS feed
  • Humanitarian Emergencies
    • Sudan Crisis
    • Palestine Crisis
    • Myanmar Crisis
    • Crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo
    • Haiti Crisis
    • Afghanistan Crisis
    • Ukraine Crisis
    • Yemen Crisis
    • South Sudan Crisis
    • Lebanon Crisis
    • Syria Crisis
    • Sahel Crisis
    • Mozambique Crisis
    • Somalia Crisis
    • Ethiopia Crisis
    • Central African Republic Crisis
    • Colombia Crisis
    • Burundi Crisis
    • Venezuela Crisis
    • Central America Crisis
    • Further Crises
  • Humanitarian News
    • All Headlines
    • News Monitor
    • Articles
      • Millions will die because of brutal funding cuts
      • Why you should donate to humanitarian causes
      • Humanitarian aid and human rights
      • Climate change and humanitarian crises
      • The world's largest economies must do more
      • Earmarked or unearmarked donations
      • Why I donate to CERF
      • How to write to a Member of Congress or Member of Parliament
      • Humanitarian action is needed now
      • Thank you
      • Reputable donation organizations in the United States
  • Humanitarian Organizations
    • By Issue
      • Humanitarian Crisis Relief
      • Children in Need
      • Hunger and Food Insecurity
      • Refugees and IDPs
      • Medical Humanitarian Aid
      • Vulnerable Groups
      • Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations
      • Related Issues
      • Human Rights Organizations
      • Climate Crisis and Climate Change
    • By Country
      • Humanitarian Organizations United States
      • Humanitarian Organizations United Kingdom
      • Humanitarian Organizations Canada
      • Humanitarian Organizations Australia
    • Directory
      • Aid Agencies Worldwide
      • Aid Agencies United States
      • Aid Agencies United Kingdom
      • Aid Agencies Canada
      • Aid Agencies Australia
  • Background
    • Key Players in Humanitarian Aid
    • Forgotten Crises
    • Where does your money go?
    • The Largest Humanitarian Donors
    • Websites for Experts and Professionals
    • Information for Journalists
    • Humanitarian Jobs
    • Glossary
  • Ways to Help
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Volunteering in Humanitarian Aid
    • Hold Your Government to Account
    • Start a Petition or Sign a Petition
    • Sponsor a Child
  • About DONARE
    • Welcome to DONARE
    • Archive
    • Content
    • Tags and Topics
      • Tags
      • Topics
    • Support Us
    • Contact
    • Donare: Meaning and Origin
DONARE logo

donare.info : Privacy Policy - Legal Notice

© 2022-2025 DONARE