Turf wars and inefficiencies have long hindered the way malnutrition is treated by the biggest global humanitarian organizations, slowing the work desperately needed to prevent the deaths of millions of starving children even as they are awash with cash.
Last year, the U.S. Agency for International Development helped raise a historic amount — over half a billion dollars — for treatment for severe acute malnutrition, the worst form of hunger which kills many. Children with SAM are given ready-to-use therapeutic foods, a high-calorie, nutrient-dense paste, but only about 25% of them globally receive the life-saving RUTFs.
So NGOs are now urging USAID to push the United Nations agencies responsible for transforming the money into lives saved to overcome yearslong disagreements between UNICEF and the World Food Programme that threaten to stymie a rare financial opportunity to save more children from starvation.