UNICEF Begs States to Access $3.4bn Child Nutrition Fund

 Wole Ayodele in Jalingo

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has enjoined state governments in Nigeria to access the $3.4 billion Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) to address the problem of acute and choric malnutrition that is prevalent across the country.
Delivering a paper at a Media dialogue organised by the UNICEF Bauchi Field Office in Gombe, Philomena Irene, the Chief Nutritionists at the Bauchi Field Office revealed that only four out of the 36 states had so far accessed the Fund.

To access the CNF, which was inaugurated in 2023, Irene stated that States are expected to contribute a minimum of N100 million as counterpart Fund which would be matched by the CNF.

Though N100 million is the least amount a state can contribute to access the CNF, she said there is however no ceiling to the amount any state may decide to contribute as such amount would be matched by the donor Fund.

Irene revealed that the issue of chronic malnutrition has reached an alarming rate in Nigeria saying a total of 1.3 million children were treated in 2023 from the 400,000 children that were treated in 2022 saying the number would continue to increase if urgent steps were re not taken to prevent the menace.
She further stated that one out of every four children suffers from acute malnutrition while four out of every child suffering from moderate malnutrition are likely to experience chronically malnourished within a year.

She however maintained that UNICEF is committed to reaching over 350 children and women every year by 2030 in its determination to address the problem
“We are committed to reaching at least 350 million children that under the age of 5 years and women, particularly those who are pregnant or breastfeeding every year by 2030,” she said.