EU provides Critical Funding for Malnourished Children in Nigeria

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The European Union has allocated €500,000, equivalent to over ₦900 million, to combat malnutrition in northern Nigeria. The funding aims to provide emergency assistance to children and mothers suffering from severe acute malnutrition in the region.

 According to the EU, the allocation will enable the Nigeria Red Cross Society to assist 170,000 households affected by or at risk of malnutrition in nine northern states, including Adamawa, Benue, Borno, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.

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The aid will support lifesaving activities for over 30,000 children in urgent need of treatment. Community outreach and screening will be integrated with outpatient care for uncomplicated severe cases using ready-to-use therapeutic food, while complex cases will be referred to health centres for specialised care. 

The EU stated that the funding will also enable the Red Cross to expand its health and nutrition interventions, contributing to improving the medium-term resilience of affected families and intensifying efforts in water, protection, sanitation, and hygiene.

This funding is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. An estimated 5.44 million children under five are acutely malnourished in the Northeast and Northwest regions of Nigeria, with 2 million projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition in Northeast Nigeria, requiring lifesaving treatment.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has highlighted the severity of the malnutrition crisis in Nigeria. UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, noted that nearly 5.4 million children under five in the Northwest and Northeast regions are suffering from acute malnutrition, with projections indicating an additional one million cases by April 2025. 

In Zamfara State, 250,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition, with one in every 10 children staring at death. Munduate lamented, “Wasting affects one in 10 children, while stunting among children aged 0 to 5 years is at an alarming 45.2 per cent.

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