New fund aims to unlock $1 billion for children’s nutrition | WPN World People News

The Power of Nutrition, a new independent fund launched on 16 April, will help millions of children reach their full potential. Backed by leading organisations from private philanthropy and international development, the partnership aims to unlock one billion dollars to tackle child undernutrition in some of the world’s poorest countries.

A woman in Laos mixes locally packed micro nutrient powered called Super Kid, in her child’s food.

The Power of Nutrition will save lives and help millions of children escape from the effects of malnutrition. It will help countries build healthy and prosperous communities. It launches with arrangements in place to unlock the first $200 million from high profile backers such as the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation, the UK’s Department for International Development, UNICEF, and the World Bank Group. It opens to new private and public investors on 16 April.

Unlocking children’s potential

Without the right nutrients, health services and care within the first 1,000 days of life, a child’s brain and body fail to develop properly. Unlike hunger, these effects are largely invisible and essentially irreversible. Undernutrition is the underlying cause of 45 per cent of all under five mortality – or nearly three million deaths every year. Undernutrition leaves nearly four in ten children in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia with underdeveloped brains and bodies. As a result, these children have lower IQs and are more likely to drop out of school. As adults, they are a third less likely to escape poverty.

The problem does not stop there. As undernourished girls grow into undernourished mothers, who give birth to undernourished children. This creates a vicious cycle that holds back the growth of future generations.

Money raised by the Power of Nutrition will finance large-scale, high-impact nutrition programmes to help break this cycle. Evidence shows that with the right nutrients and care early on in life, a child’s brain and body are able to develop to their full potential, improving their health, education and future livelihoods. It is an investment in children, families and communities that lasts and lasts.

Multiplying funds for nutrition

For the first time, a combination of private and public finances will support country-led programmes that target child undernutrition at scale. The Power of Nutrition will act as a catalyst to multiply the financial resources going into this area, through a combination of grants, government funding and International Development Association (IDA) financing,
The fund has developed an innovative matching offer that guarantees that every dollar in private funding is multiplied up to six times with new financing secured from other funders. Governments seeking financial support for their national nutrition programmes will also be able to multiply their resources through the fund.

The Power of Nutrition opens to new private and public investors on 16 April. It launches with arrangements in place to unlock the first $200m of financing.

Contributions include $55m from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, up to £32m ($47m) from the UK Department of International Development, and up to Swiss Francs 25m ($26m) from the UBS Optimus Foundation.

These resources will be channelled through a new World Bank Group (WBG) trust fund for nutrition and through a UNICEF matched-funding mechanism. The new WBG trust fund of at least $55m will leverage at least another $100m from the IDA, the WBG’s fund for the poorest. The new agreement with UNICEF provides an opportunity for donors to fund UNICEF through a matched-funding mechanism dedicated to ending child undernutrition.

Source:United Nations Children's Fund