Children aged under five living in the world's deadliest conflict zones are no closer to escaping hunger a decade after world leaders committed to ending child malnutrition, said Save the Children. 

As leaders meet at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), an analysis of the latest data by Save the Children found in 20 conflict-affected countries,[1] about 44 million children aged under 5 – more than on in three – were stunted. That number of children has increased since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015.[2]

Globally, 150 million children were stunted in 2024,[3] far off a global target to reduce this number to 108 million by 2025. Stunting – when children are too short for their age due to chronic undernutrition – can cause life-long physical and cognitive damage.

Equally alarming, acute malnutrition – the most life-threatening form of malnutrition also known as wasting – has failed to decline in line with the global targets agreed by the 193 UN member states a decade ago. Rates are notably high in some conflict zones including Sudan, Yemen and Gaza.[4]

SDG 2.2, which aims to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030, set interim targets to reduce the number of acutely malnourished children under 5 to 32 million[5] but at least 43 million children globally were acutely malnourished in 2024.  

The analysis comes as 30 organizations, including Save the Children, today sounded the alarm on the child malnutrition crisis, calling on world leaders to take action. While malnutrition globally has been declining, progress has stalled and been uneven, and cuts to foreign assistance raise the risk of backsliding.

Conflict is the main driver of 20 of the world's 53 worst food crises, including in Gaza and Sudan where violence, coupled with severely restricted access and denials of aid have triggered famine classifications and put thousands of severely malnourished children at heightened risk of death.[6]