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	UN report reveals true cost of disasters by UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)   May 2025   Disasters are increasingly expensive and their impacts under-estimated. The Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) 2025, highlights how direct disaster costs have grown to approximately $202 billion annually, but that the true costs of disasters is over $2.3 trillion when cascading and ecosystem costs are taken into account.   The burden of this cost- and the debt it creates- disproportionately fall on developing countries, but it doesn't need to be this way.   Published by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the GAR 2025 report titled "Resilience Pays: Financing and Investing for our Future," outlines how aligning investments with risk realities can break spirals of debt, uninsurability, and increasing humanitarian needs.   "This year's Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction examines the risks posed by disasters from now to 2050 and presents an indisputable case for action. It shows the eye-watering losses inflicted by disasters today, which hit vulnerable people the hardest. And it demonstrates that, on our current trajectory, costs will continue to mount as the climate crisis worsens.   But it also illustrates that, by boosting and sustaining investment in disaster risk reduction and prevention, we can slow that trend and reap economic benefits - saving lives and livelihoods while driving growth and prosperity, to help reach our Sustainable Development Goals," wrote Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, in his foreword welcoming the report.   The report outlines how the effects of increasing disaster costs are already being felt around the globe, from the emergence of areas deemed too risky for insurance companies to cover, to growing national debts, and recurring humanitarian crises.   However, it also presents case studies and policy recommendations for how investments in resilience can help stop the growing economic cost of disasters, reduce humanitarian needs, and make scarce international assistance resources even more effective.   "Systematic and greater investment in disaster risk reduction and resilience can not only arrest these trends but also reverse them. When riverbank communities have access to scientific tools for planning their land use, when they have resources for building flood protection systems, and when they have early warning systems, they not only reduce damages and losses from floods, but also create conditions for prosperity and sustainable growth in their communities," said Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Head of UNDRR.   The findings of GAR 2025 are especially relevant ahead of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, and speak to specific options for enhancing multilateral finance to better protect smaller developing economies.   The report also shows how the private sector can play a key role in reducing the economic damage of disasters and in filling the protection gap that leaves many countries in a worsening spiral of repeated disasters.   Increasing the quantity and quality of disaster risk reduction investments, in everything from early warning systems to critical infrastructure and schools, will be a focus of many of the discussions at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, which UNDRR is convening from 2 to 6 June, and is hosted by the Government of Switzerland in Geneva.   http://www.undrr.org/news/billions-trillions-flagship-un-report-reveals-true-cost-disasters-and-how-reduce-them http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/05/1163716 http://www.undrr.org/gar/gar2025 http://www.internal-displacement.org/news/disasters-triggered-nearly-265-million-forced-movements-over-the-past-decade/ Visit the related web page
	Ensuring children's right to health by GAVI, UNICEF, Education Cannot Wait, agencies   Statement of International School Meals Day by Education Cannot Wait Director Yasmine Sherif:   Millions of children worldwide are going hungry, and we all know that hungry children cannot learn. On International School Meals Day, we are calling on donors to significantly scale-up funding for school feeding to ensure every child can go to school, every child can access at least one nutritious meal a day, and every child can concentrate, develop and achieve.   Our investment in school meals saves lives through education in emergencies. It also offers significant economic returns that pave the way for strong economies and increased global security.   In fact, according to the World Food Programme (WFP) State of School Feeding Worldwide Report, every dollar invested in school meals has a $9 return. These returns cut across numerous sectors, including agriculture, education, health and nutrition, and social protection.   The benefits for learners are significant. According to WFP: “Every day, over 100 million children in low- and lower-middle-income countries are going hungry. Millions go to school on an empty stomach – hunger affects their concentration and ability to learn.   There are also millions – particularly girls – who simply do not go to school because their families need them to help in the fields or perform domestic duties. In conflict-affected countries, children are twice as likely to be out of school than their peers in stable countries – 2.5 times more likely, in the case of girls.”   Investing in healthy school meals – especially in crisis contexts – is an investment in local economies and an investment in local human capital. It’s an investment in the future engineers, teachers and technicians that will drive positive change to end repeated cycles of hunger, displacement and poverty.   Working together with partners, Education Cannot Wait provides investments each year in school feeding.   In Ethiopia, ECW investments reached around 100,000 children through school feeding programmes. Recognizing that poverty was a crucial factor keeping children out of school, the programme involved families and community members to manage the programme and provide in-kind contributions like building kitchen houses or providing firewood to cook the hot meals.   In Cameroon and Haiti, ECW funding delivered by WFP is focused on local procurement from smallholder farmers. This not only ensures nutritious meals for young learners, but also strengthens the local food system and local economy.   In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, over 39,000 students in 69 schools have received nutritious meals through an ECW-funded programme delivered by UNICEF.   The needs are skyrocketing. With ongoing conflicts in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan creating ripple effects across Africa – and indeed across the globe – we must ensure that school meals in education investments remain at the top of the international humanitarian funding agenda.   Education Cannot Wait connects across various sectors to accelerate the collective impact of humanitarian funding. Together, we can keep hope alive for the 234 million crisis-impacted children that urgently need our support.   http://www.educationcannotwait.org/news-stories/directors-corner/our-investment-in-school-meals-our-investment-in-education http://www.wfp.org/school-meals http://schoolmealscoalition.org/why-school-meals http://schoolmealscoalition.org/stories/brazils-minister-wellington-dias-school-meals-key-ending-hunger-and-poverty http://schoolmealscoalition.org/stories http://policybasket.endhungerandpoverty.org/index.php/School_meals_programmes http://www.ennonline.net/gann/resources/en/towards-practical-guide-scoping-review-nutrition http://views-voices.oxfam.org.uk/2025/07/school-age-food-emergencies-forgotten/ http://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/how-planet-friendly-school-meals-nurture-healthier-and-sustainable-food-choices http://odi.org/en/publications/school-feeding-and-the-sustainable-development-goals-an-agenda-to-combat-child-hunger-boost-education-transform-food-systems-and-strengthen-equity/ http://tinyurl.com/4kk573hy http://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/07/272-million-children-out-of-school-a-major-wake-up-call   Fully-funded Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is a lifeline for child survival. (WHO)   Vaccines are one of humanity’s greatest achievements. An estimated 154 million lives have been saved over the past 50 years thanks to global immunization drives as part of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), led by country governments worldwide and supported by global institutions.   Vaccination accounts for 40% of the worldwide improvement in infant survival over these 50 years, and more children now live to see their first birthday and beyond than at any other time in human history. Much of this success is a result of the investments entrusted to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, founded in 2000.   Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which includes WHO, UNICEF and the Gates Foundation as core founding members, was created to widen the benefits of EPI by helping the poorest countries in the world benefit from new, life-saving vaccines, and increase the coverage of EPI vaccines.   These two goals, one to expand the scope of protection and one to expand the scale of protection, have resulted in a greater breadth of protection against an increasing number of vaccine-preventable diseases.   This intensified effort, including in the most vulnerable parts of the world, has helped to save more lives and further vaccine equity - ensuring children who never receive a single vaccine are reached.   Since 2000, Gavi has protected an entire generation – over 1 billion children – against infectious diseases, helping to cut by half child mortality in 78 lower-income countries.   From 2000-2023, Gavi supported 637 vaccine introductions and vaccination campaigns to protect children around the world against 16 life-threatening infectious diseases. Not only are vaccines delivering protection and high impact, immunization is a ‘best buy’ in health with a return on investment of $54 for every dollar invested.   Decades of progress have made many vaccine-preventable diseases a rarity in the lives of families. Cuts in the investments to Gavi pose a massive threat to unravel this progress.   Infectious diseases do not stop at borders. Where there are pockets of un- and under-immunized children and adults, measles and other diseases can easily spread, as we’re seeing in the U.S. and around the world.   This puts all lives at risk, costs individuals and governments substantial resources to respond to outbreaks and stretches already scarce health system resources. This says nothing about the long-term harms and even deaths that occur to what should have been healthy lives.   Gavi has been the front line to help keep deadly vaccine-preventable diseases at bay, working hand in hand with WHO, UNICEF and other public and private sector partners, most notably, community health workers and families eager to protect their loved ones.   Through routine immunization, Gavi has been critical to maintaining vaccine stockpiles for outbreak-prone diseases such as Ebola, yellow fever and meningitis.   In the next 5 years, Gavi aims to protect at least 500 million children from preventable disease and in so doing save an additional 8-9 million lives. Without continued support from donors, the world is at risk of a dangerous backsliding in immunization coverage – meaning more zero-dose children, more disease outbreaks, more diseases crossing borders, more threats to health and more children who never reach even their 5th birthday.   Every child has the right to health. Our best defense against infectious diseases is continued investment in life-saving immunizations for all.   We cannot turn our backs on protecting all children and all communities from these diseases. Nobody should be mistaken that reversing the gains of the past 25 years of immunization is anything other than a grave threat to us all. It is critical to continue investment in Gavi so that life-saving immunizations can continue to reach all children.   25 June 2025   Gavi-the Vaccine Alliance is holding a high-level pledging global summit in Brussels on 25th of June, aiming to raise at a minimum US$ 9 billion (down from an orginal target of $11.9) from donors to fund health strategies to protect 500 million children from disease and better protect the world from the threat of pandemics and other global challenges.   Gavi, has transformed global immunisation since 2000, protecting over 1.1 billion children, saving 18.8 million lives and generating over US$ 250 billion in economic benefits for lower-income economies.   Gavi is seeking to raise at least US$ 9 billion for its next strategic period 2026–2030. Gavi implementing countries will themselves contribute 46% towards the total cost of vaccines, contributing US$ 4 billion towards the cost of immunisation programmes.   A successful replenishment for Gavi will enable the Vaccine Alliance to implement its outcomes, as set out in Gavi’s Investment Opportunity including: immunising at 500 million children; boosting global health security by responding to 150 disease outbreaks.   “By investing in Gavi, our donors are investing in a world that is more resilient to disease outbreaks, in economies that are more capable of contributing to global growth and in the futures of over half of the world’s children, whose ability to lead healthy, productive lives is so vital for the future of our planet,” said Professor Jose Manuel Barroso, Chair of the Gavi Board.   The Gates Foundation has announced a commitment of US$1.6 billion over the next five years to support Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance—one of the most effective mechanisms for delivering lifesaving vaccines to children and preventing disease in the world’s most vulnerable communities.   “For the first time in decades, the number of kids dying around the world will likely go up this year instead of down because of massive cuts to foreign aid. That is a tragedy,” warned Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation. “Fully funding Gavi is the single most powerful step we can take to stop it.”   The foundation’s renewed support comes amid a global crisis. International development programs have been severely impacted by declining budgets and shifting political priorities. After years of stagnation, foreign assistance plummeted this year, putting at risk the hard-won progress in child survival and public health made over the last 25 years.   “The legacy of our generation cannot be that we looked away as millions of poor children died of preventable causes,” said Gates. “The world now has affordable, effective, proven tools that save lives. Wealthy nations should fully fund Gavi and the Global Fund, the organizations created to get those products to the people who need them.”   Since its launch 25 years ago, Gavi has helped cut child mortality in half. It has vaccinated more than 1.1 billion children across 78 low-income countries, preventing nearly 19 million deaths from diseases like measles, pneumonia, and diarrhea.   Despite that progress, one in five children still lack access to essential vaccines, and outbreaks of preventable diseases—including measles and meningitis—are increasing, threatening to reverse decades of gains.   Gavi’s co-financing model emphasizes country ownership and long-term sustainability. As partner countries’ economies grow, they contribute more to their vaccine programs and eventually transition to self-financing. Since 2000, 19 countries have successfully graduated from Gavi support.   http://www.cgdev.org/blog/mind-gap-recapping-gavis-pledging-summit http://reliefweb.int/report/world/emergency-vaccine-response-has-cut-infectious-disease-deaths-nearly-60-2000 http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/07/1165380 http://www.gavi.org/news/media-room/world-leaders-recommit-immunisation-amid-global-funding-shortfall http://www.savethechildren.net/news/we-need-spike-investment-boost-vaccination-public-healths-best-buy http://gavi-csos.org/cso-communities-cfa/ http://gavi-csos.org/ http://www.globalcitizen.org/en/action/make-health-history/ http://www.one.org/stories/vaccine-vaccination-global-health/ http://data.one.org/analysis/vaccines-modern-day-miracle   24 April 2025   Immunization efforts are under growing threat as misinformation, population growth, humanitarian crises, and funding cuts jeopardize progress and leave millions of children, adolescents, and adults at risk, warn WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi during World Immunization Week, 24-30 April.   Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, meningitis, and yellow fever are rising globally, and diseases like diphtheria, which have long been held at bay or virtually disappeared in many countries, are at risk of re-emerging.   In response, the agencies are calling for urgent and sustained political attention and investment to strengthen immunization programmes and protect significant progress achieved in reducing child mortality over the past 50 years.   “Vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past five decades,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Funding cuts to global health have put these hard-won gains in jeopardy. Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are increasing around the world, putting lives at risk and exposing countries to increased costs in treating diseases and responding to outbreaks. Countries with limited resources must invest in the highest-impact interventions – and that includes vaccines.”   Rising outbreaks and strained health systems   Measles is making an especially dangerous comeback. The number of cases has been increasing year on year since 2021, tracking the reductions in immunization coverage that occurred during and since the COVID-19 pandemic in many communities. Measles cases reached an estimated 10.3 million in 2023, a 20 per cent increase compared to 2022.   The agencies warn that this upward trend likely continued into 2024 and 2025, as outbreaks have intensified around the world. In the past 12 months, 138 countries have reported measles cases, with 61 experiencing large or disruptive outbreaks — the highest number observed in any 12-month period since 2019.   Meningitis cases in Africa also rose sharply in 2024, and the upward trend has continued into 2025. In the first three months of this year alone, more than 5,500 suspected cases and nearly 300 deaths were reported in 22 countries. This follows approximately 26,000 cases and almost 1,400 deaths across 24 countries last year.   Yellow fever cases in the African region are also climbing, with 124 confirmed cases reported in 12 countries in 2024. This comes after dramatic declines in the disease over the past decade, thanks to global vaccine stockpiles and the use of yellow fever vaccine in routine immunization programmes. In the region of the Americas, yellow fever outbreaks have been confirmed since the beginning of this year, with a total of 131 cases in 4 countries.   These outbreaks come amidst global funding cuts. A recent WHO rapid stock take with 108 country offices of WHO—mostly in low- and lower-middle-income countries—shows that nearly half of those countries are facing moderate to severe disruptions to vaccination campaigns, routine immunization, and access to supplies due to reduced donor funding. Disease surveillance, including for vaccine-preventable diseases, is also impacted in more than half of the countries surveyed.   At the same time, the number of children missing routine vaccinations has been increasing in recent years, even as countries make efforts to catch up children missed during the pandemic. In 2023, an estimated 14.5 million children missed all of their routine vaccine doses—up from 13.9 million in 2022 and 12.9 million in 2019. Over half of these children live in countries facing conflict, fragility, or instability, where access to basic health services is often disrupted.   “The global funding crisis is severely limiting our ability to vaccinate over 15 million vulnerable children in fragile and conflict-affected countries against measles,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Immunization services, disease surveillance, and the outbreak response in nearly 50 countries are already being disrupted—with setbacks at a similar level to what we saw during COVID-19. We cannot afford to lose ground in the fight against preventable diseases.”   Continued investment in the ‘Big Catch-Up initiative’, launched in 2023 to reach children who missed vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, and other routine immunization programmes will be critical.   How immunization addresses these challenges   Joint efforts by WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and partners have helped countries expand access to vaccines and strengthen immunization systems through primary health care, even in the face of mounting challenges. Every year, vaccines save nearly 4.2 million lives against 14 diseases – with nearly half of these lives saved in the African region.   Vaccination campaigns have led to the elimination of meningitis A in Africa’s meningitis belt, while a new vaccine that protects against five strains of meningitis holds promise for broader protection, with efforts underway to expand its use for outbreak response and prevention.   Progress has also been made in reducing yellow fever cases and deaths through increasing routine immunization coverage and emergency vaccine stockpiles, but recent outbreaks in Africa and in the Region of the Americas highlight the risks in areas with no reported cases in the past, low routine vaccination coverage and gaps in preventive campaigns.   In addition, the past two years have seen substantial progress in other areas of immunization. In the African region, which has the highest cervical cancer burden in the world, HPV vaccine coverage nearly doubled between 2020 and 2023 from 21 per cent to 40 per cent, reflecting a concerted global effort towards eliminating cervical cancer. The progress in immunization also includes increases in global coverage of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, particularly in the South-East Asia Region, alongside introductions in Chad and Somalia, countries with high disease burden.   Another milestone is the sub-national introduction of malaria vaccines in nearly 20 African countries, laying the foundation to save half a million additional lives by 2035 as more countries adopt the vaccines and scale-up accelerates as part of the tools to fight malaria.   Call to action   UNICEF, WHO, and Gavi urgently call for parents, the public, and politicians to strengthen support for immunization. The agencies emphasize the need for sustained investment in vaccines and immunization programmes and urge countries to honour their commitments to the Immunization Agenda 2030.   As part of integrated primary healthcare systems, vaccination can protect against diseases and connect families to other essential care, such as antenatal care, nutrition or malaria screening. Immunization is a ‘best buy’ in health with a return on investment of $54 for every dollar invested and provides a foundation for future prosperity and health security.   “Increasing outbreaks of highly infectious diseases are a concern for the whole world. The good news is we can fight back, and Gavi’s next strategic period has a clear plan to bolster our defences by expanding investments in global vaccine stockpiles and rolling out targeted preventive vaccination in countries most impacted by meningitis, yellow fever and measles,” said Dr Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.   “These vital activities, however, will be at risk if Gavi is not fully funded for the next five years and we call on our donors to support our mission in the interests of keeping everyone, everywhere, safer from preventable diseases.”   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/increases-vaccine-preventable-disease-outbreaks-threaten-years-progress-warn-who http://www.who.int/news/item/24-04-2025-increases-in-vaccine-preventable-disease-outbreaks-threaten-years-of-progress--warn-who--unicef--gavi http://www.unicef.org/take-action/campaigns/immunization-for-all http://www.unicef.org/reports/state-worlds-children-2023 http://www.unicef.org/stories/lengths-which-health-workers-go-reach-every-child-vaccines   http://healthpolicy-watch.news/gavi-seeks-support-amid-global-vaccination-backsliding/ http://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/health/kennedy-vaccines-gavi.html http://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/06/25/g-s1-74554/rfk-jr-vaccine-safety-gavi http://www.gavi.org/news/media-room/statement-response-25-june-2025 http://apnews.com/article/cdc-vaccine-advisers-covid19-rsv-a85baa8a9296fd857af5ce33ae3b6cfd http://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-trump-administrations-foreign-aid-review-status-of-u-s-support-for-gavi-the-vaccine-alliance/ http://time.com/7273414/gavi-vaccine-alliance-sania-nishtar-ceo-funding http://www.msf.org/children-darfur-sudan-urgently-need-immunisation-measles-spreads   * Global, regional, and national trends in routine childhood vaccination coverage from 1980 to 2023 with forecasts to 2030: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 (The Lancet. June 2025):   http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01037-2/abstract   Mar. 2025   Decades of progress in reducing child deaths and stillbirths under threat, warns the United Nations   Decades of progress in child survival are now at risk as major donors have announced or indicated significant funding cuts to aid ahead. Reduced global funding for life-saving child survival programmes is causing health-care worker shortages, clinic closures, vaccination programme disruptions, and a lack of essential supplies, such as malaria treatments.   These cuts are severely impacting regions in humanitarian crises, debt-stricken countries, and areas with already high child mortality rates. Global funding cuts could also undermine monitoring and tracking efforts, making it harder to reach the most vulnerable children, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) warned.   “From tackling malaria to preventing stillbirths and ensuring evidence-based care for the tiniest babies, we can make a difference for millions of families,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “In the face of global funding cuts, there is a need more than ever to step up collaboration to protect and improve children’s health.”   Even before the current funding crisis, the pace of progress on child survival had already slowed. Since 2015, the annual rate of reduction of under-five mortality has slowed by 42%, and stillbirth reduction has slowed by 53%, compared to 2000–2015.   Almost half of under-five deaths happen within the first month of life, mostly due to premature birth and complications during labour. Beyond the newborn period, infectious diseases, including acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhoea, are the leading causes of preventable child death. Meanwhile, 45% of late stillbirths occur during labour, often due to maternal infections, prolonged or obstructed labour, and lack of timely medical intervention.   Better access to quality maternal, newborn, and child health care at all levels of the health system will save many more lives, according to the reports. This includes promotive and preventive care in communities, timely visits to health facilities and health professionals at birth, high-quality antenatal and postnatal care, well-child preventive care such as routine vaccinations and comprehensive nutrition programmes, diagnosis and treatment for common childhood illnesses, and specialized care for small and sick newborns.   Most preventable child deaths occur in low-income countries, where essential services, vaccines, and treatments are often inaccessible. The report also show that where a child is born greatly influences their chances of survival.   The risk of death before age five is 80 times higher in the highest-mortality country than the lowest-mortality country, for example, while a child born in sub-Saharan Africa is on average 18 times more likely to die before turning five than one born in Australia and New Zealand. Within countries, the poorest children, those living in rural areas, and those with less-educated mothers face the higher risks.   Stillbirth disparities are just as severe, with nearly 80% occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, where women are six to eight times more likely to experience a stillbirth than women in Europe or North America. Meanwhile, women in low-income countries are eight times more likely to experience a stillbirth than those in high-income countries.   “Disparities in child mortality across and within nations remain one of the greatest challenges of our time,” said the UN DESA Under-Secretary-General, Li Junhua. “Reducing such differences is not just a moral imperative but also a fundamental step towards sustainable development and global equity. Every child deserves a fair chance at life, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that no child is left behind.”   We call on governments, donors, and partners across the private and public sectors to protect the hard-won gains in saving children’s lives and accelerate efforts. Increased investments are urgently needed to scale up access to proven life-saving health, nutrition, and social protection services for children and pregnant mothers.   * The number of children dying globally before their fifth birthday declined to 4.8 million in 2023, while stillbirths declined modestly, still remaining around 1.9 million, according to reports released today by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME). Since 2000, child deaths have dropped by more than half and stillbirths by over a third, fuelled by sustained investments in child survival worldwide. However, progress has slowed and too many children are still being lost to preventable causes.   "Millions of children are alive today because of the global commitment to proven interventions, such as vaccines, nutrition, and access to safe water and basic sanitation,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “But without adequate investments we risk reversing hard-earned gains, with millions more children dying from preventable causes. We cannot allow that to happen.”   http://data.unicef.org/resources/levels-and-trends-in-child-mortality-2024/ http://www.who.int/news/item/25-03-2025-decades-of-progress-in-reducing-child-deaths-and-stillbirths-under-threat--warns-the-united-nations   Mar. 2025   At least 14 million children face disruptions to critical nutrition services in 2025   At least 14 million children are expected to face disruptions to nutrition support and services because of recent and expected global funding cuts, leaving them at heightened risk of severe malnutrition and death – according to analyses issued by UNICEF.   The funding crisis comes at a time of unprecedented need for children who continue to face record levels of displacement, new and protracted conflicts, disease outbreaks, and the deadly consequences of climate change – all of which are undermining their access to adequate nutrition.   “Over the last decades, we have made impressive progress in reducing child malnutrition globally because of a shared commitment and sustained investment,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “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. But steep funding cuts will dramatically reverse these gains and put the lives of millions more children at risk."   Additional impacts across 17 high priority countries due to funding cuts include:   More than 2.4 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition could go without Ready-to-use-Therapeutic-Food (RUTF) for the remainder of 2025.   Up to 2,300 life-saving stabilisation centres – providing critical care for children suffering from severe wasting with medical complications – are at risk of closing or severely scaling back services.   Almost 28,000 UNICEF-supported outpatient therapeutic centres for the treatment of malnutrition are at risk, and in some cases have already stopped operating.   Today, levels of severe wasting in children under five remain gravely high in some fragile contexts and humanitarian emergencies. Adolescent girls and women are especially vulnerable. Even before the funding cuts, the number of pregnant and breastfeeding women and adolescent girls suffering from acute malnutrition soared from 5.5 million to 6.9 million – or 25 per cent – since 2020.   UNICEF expects these figures to rise without urgent action from donors as well as adequate investments from national governments.   “UNICEF is calling on governments and donors to prioritise investments in health and nutrition programmes for children and is urging national governments to allocate more funding to domestic nutrition and health services. Good nutrition is the foundation of child survival and development, with impressive returns on investment. Dividends will be measured in stronger families, societies and countries, and a more stable world,” said Russell.   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-14-million-children-face-disruptions-critical-nutrition-services-2025-unicef http://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-calls-urgent-investment-prevent-child-wasting-leaders-convene-nutrition-growth-summit http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/03/1161541   * IPC Child Acute Malnutrition Classification latest: http://tinyurl.com/4n25jjbz   Mar. 2025   United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk remarks to UN Human Rights Council meeting on the Rights of the Child Theme: Early Childhood Development:   "In recent years, we have all seen appalling images of people suffering the horrific effects of conflict, but when it comes to children, they clearly played no part in stoking the violence. They could never be fighters, or armed rebels, or militia members. Because they are small children. Sometimes, babies.   From Sudan to Gaza, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Ukraine, children are bearing the brunt of the global failure to uphold human rights. As international human rights and humanitarian law are broken with impunity, children are the most vulnerable victims.   Even in countries that are at peace, children are routinely denied their rights to food, water and shelter; to education, healthcare and a clean environment.   Children make up a third of humanity. Our experiences during childhood can affect us for our entire lives. And children’s small bodies make them more vulnerable to physical and environmental harms than adults.   Upholding the rights of children is at the heart of our commitment to advancing and safeguarding human rights for all. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. This shows the strong commitment of States to protect and promote the rights of every child, without discrimination. Today, we must find our way back to that pledge.   Some 80 percent of our brain develops in the three years after our birth. Early childhood development is an essential foundation for a happy, healthy, fulfilling life. This, in turn, is the basis for strong communities and resilient economies.   Yet the gap between the Convention and reality is increasing. Many children face a precarious future. As action on hunger, poverty and the 2030 Agenda falters, inequality and climate chaos increase.   In the next thirty years, eight times as many children could be exposed to extreme heatwaves, and twice as many to extreme wildfires.   The digital divide means just 25 percent of children in low-income countries are online, compared with more than 95 percent in high-income countries. And children in all countries lack the protections needed to stay safe online.   Decades of progress on children’s rights and development are stagnating and even being rolled back, directly threatening children’s early development and even survival.   Almost one in three children worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water. Two in five children lack access to basic sanitation. One in three children under 5 are not growing and developing as they should, because of malnutrition. Over 385 million children are living in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1.90 per day.   And for children marginalized by their ethnicity, or their socioeconomic, migration or disability status, the situation is far worse. We are letting children down, instead of lifting them up.   We know what children need to survive and thrive: health care and nutrition, clean air and water, protection from harm, and a sense of nurturing and security.   Initiatives that target the most marginalized children help to break cycles of poverty, for the benefit of entire communities. Investments in early childhood are one of the smartest ways to achieve sustainable economic development. Studies indicate that the economic return can be up to thirteen times the amount invested.   Governments have the primary responsibility to fulfil children’s rights. But the private sector, civil society, educational institutions and many other stakeholders have an interest – and a responsibility, when it comes to the wellbeing of children. We must all work together to provide children with the best possible chances in life.   A child’s early years are a vital window of opportunity, and their life chances should not depend on luck. In these troubling times, we must stand up together for the full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We must revitalize investment in children – all children, everywhere".   http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/03/1161111   * UN Human Rights Council 2025 Annual discussion on rights of the child; Early Childhood Development: UN WebTV: Day 1 video broadcast starts at 1hr 05 minutes in:   http://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1y/k1ygkhegr5 http://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k16/k16ycl95hy Visit the related web page
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