As the international community gathers this week for the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit in Paris, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) urges world leaders to take immediate, bold action to avert millions of preventable child deaths from extreme hunger. Today, 45 million children under age 5 are acutely malnourished, with children who suffer from severe acute malnutrition facing a risk of death up to 9 to 11 times higher than their healthy peers. 

As global food insecurity mounts worldwide, nutrition programming around the world is at risk with US funding cuts, with programs shuttering and disruptions to critical assistance taking place across some of the world’s toughest contexts.  

The IRC manages dozens of stabilization centers for severely malnourished children with medical complications around the world, many of which are currently facing closures or disruptions due to funding cuts, supply chain breaks, stock-outs to ready-to-use therapeutic food, and logistical challenges. These centers treat as many as 1,000 children per month, all in ICU-like conditions. Even momentary disruption to treatment can be fatal for what IRC considers its most vulnerable clients.