The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has warned that 1.3 million children under five suffering from acute malnutrition in Nigeria and Ethiopia risk losing access to critical treatment this year due to severe funding shortages.
UNICEF raised these concerns in a recent statement, revealing that aid cuts, worsened by U.S. President Donald Trump’s suspension of foreign assistance, have disrupted the supply of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a vital treatment for malnourished children.
The agency warned that without immediate funding, Nigeria’s supply of therapeutic food for 80,000 severely malnourished children could be depleted by the end of this month. Likewise, Ethiopia’s stock is expected to run out by May, leaving 70,000 children without treatment.
Speaking via video link from Abuja, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Kitty Van der Heijden stressed the urgency of the situation, recalling a harrowing scene in a Maiduguri hospital where a malnourished child’s skin was peeling off due to extreme starvation.
“This funding crisis will become a child survival crisis,” Van der Heijden warned. “Interruption to continuous treatment is life-threatening.”
The funding shortfall has been further worsened by international donors reducing their contributions to UN agencies in recent years. The crisis escalated when the United States, UNICEF’s top donor suspended all foreign aid for 90 days immediately after President Donald Trump’s return to office in January. The abrupt pause has thrown global humanitarian relief efforts into disarray, jeopardising the delivery of food and medical aid worldwide.
In Ethiopia, the funding cuts have already forced the closure of 23 mobile health clinics that provided nutrition and malaria care for pregnant women and children in the Afar region, leaving only seven operational.
UNICEF has urged the global community to act swiftly to prevent a worsening humanitarian disaster, calling for immediate financial support to sustain lifesaving interventions for the most vulnerable children.
