Meet our sponsors: The Power of Nutrition

Globally, there are more than 800 million people estimated to be undernourished. This includes over 144 million children under five who suffer from stunting; another 47 million children worldwide suffer from wasting.

For communities particularly affected by widespread undernutrition, the economic and social effects are wide-reaching. In some countries in Africa and Asia, up to 11 per cent of annual GDP is lost due to these conditions.

Despite this, nutrition-based interventions remain dangerously underfunded, with only 0.5 per cent of Overseas Development Assistance going towards high impact nutrition interventions, leading to a wide gap in nutrition financing

This is why The Power of Nutrition is convening multi-sectoral partnerships to maximise resources across diverse sources – with a focus on private sector investment to unlock public sector funds – supporting national, large-scale, high-impact nutrition interventions. Through our innovative funding model, we guarantee that every dollar invested is multiplied by at least four times, maximising impact and results. We currently have programmes in 12 countries across Africa and Asia.

We are committed to ending the cycle of undernutrition, helping children grow to their full potential and supporting countries to build strong and prosperous communities. This is by way of scaling up 11 nutrition-specific interventions proven to have the greatest impact on stunting[1] .

Through the support of both the public and private sectors, to date we enabled over 38 million mothers and children to access nutrition services tailored to specific local contexts and need. This includes providing vital nutritional services such as vitamin A supplementation, Iron and Folic Acid supplementation for pregnant women, promotion of exclusive breastfeeding, and promotion of hand-washing with soap.

Despite the progress being made, we remain a long way from securing adequate nutrition for all. COVID-19 threatens to aggravate the cycle of undernutrition and undo hard-fought gains. The pandemic is disrupting food and health systems, reducing the reach of existing interventions, and creating socioeconomic instability. These effects will be devastating for millions as acute hunger levels are set to double by the end of 2020: every percentage drop in global GDP is estimated to cause 70,000 more children to be stunted.

Good nutrition is essential for children to build strong immune systems, making them more resilient to diseases, which, in turn, helps ensure the longevity and prosperity of a nation. This is why investing in nutrition today is more important than ever before,  so that the progress we have made so far is not reversed, making way for society to progress and prosper.

For more information on The Power of Nutrition and how to get involved, visit https://www.powerofnutrition.org/

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[1] Based on evidence presented in the 2008 Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition and the 2013 Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition