Commitment

Broker and strengthen global policy on wasting with multiple stakeholders.

Donor government / Ireland

January 2022 — December 2026

Description

Ireland commitment to strengthening global policy and action on wasting is delivered through leadership and active engagement with the 'Wasting re-set' and the Global Action Plan on child wasting, promoting a focus on wasting in the Food Systems pre-Summit (with Ministerial participation at the wasting side event) and the Food Systems Summit (where the President of Ireland's national statement outlined Ireland's commitment to tackling wasting) and the African Union's Year of Nutrition 2022. Ireland will continue to build on this foundation by working with other members states and partners and key stakeholders in supporting global progress on wasting, specifically through the Global Action Plan. This will include focusing on areas such as Finance, prevention, advocacy, technical programming, policies and guidelines and products. Through committing to the Zero Hunger Coalition and to seeking global spaces to advance both the knowledge of and commitment to tackling wasting, Ireland will continue to be a front runner in this space.

Overarching commitment (for commitments submitted pre-2025)

Title

Leadership and programming on the prevention and treatment of child wasting with a specific commitment of USD 50m over 3 years.

Description

At N4G Ireland pledged support for innovative programming approaches for the prevention and treatment of wasting with a particular focus on tackling wasting for 0-6 months children. Zero hunger is the ultimate test of an effective sustainable food system. Wasting is the most visible form of malnutrition and carries the highest risk of death. Some 45 million children under the age of five currently suffer from wasting. This commitment positioned Ireland to take a leadership role on the issue of wasting globally, backed up by programming targeted at small and nutritionally at-risk infants and children. Ireland's leadership was demonstrated with an additional commitment made in November 2022, of USD50m over three years.

GNR assessment

Verification status
Verified
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SMARTness index
Lower moderate
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Details

Target population characteristic
  • Economic status of country
  • Gender identity
  • Nationality or country of origin
  • Socioeconomic status
Global nutrition target(s)
Low birth weight
Childhood stunting
Childhood wasting
Nutrition Action Classification(s)
Enabling > Leadership and governance
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Linked event(s)
  • 2021 Tokyo N4G Summit
N4G Summit theme(s)
  • Food
  • Health

Measurement

Key indicator Number of areas in the Scale Up Wasting Working Group with progress
Value Measurement date
Baseline Status of 6 areas as developed by the Scale Up Wasting Working Group. 2021
Target 6 areas December 2026

Progress

Status:
Progress not able to be assessed
Why this status?
Despite the commitment maker’s active participation in the process, they were unable to provide the required information about the baseline data or the progress indicator's updated (latest) level or status, or the data provided were not in a format allowing calculation of progress.
Value Measurement date
Progress report Ireland’s ODA Budget in 2023 delivered on commitments for child wasting. Ireland’s new partnerships and policy on nutrition, and particularly child wasting, are in alignment with the Global Action Plan. In September 2022 in New York Ireland pledged an additional €50 million over three years for the fight to end child wasting, in cooperation with UNICEF, WHO and others. This WHO partnership programme implemented from 2023 will advance the delivery of Ireland’s commitments at the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, and more specifically will provide substantial input for Ireland’s pledge at UNGA 2022 to tackle Child Wasting (€50 million over 3 years). In 2023 we allocated the first €2 million grant to WHO that complements the larger €10 million grant to UNICEF to reduce the prevalence of child wasting and increase the coverage of prevention and treatment services. This supports their joint efforts in implementing the UN Global Action Plan (GAP) on Child Wasting. Our partnership with WHO and UNICEF is focusing on ten priority countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria and South Sudan. Additionally is supporting Concern Worldwide in implementing an innovative programme over three years totalling €15 million in the Horn of Africa with a focus on preventing child wasting in the most vulnerable communities and households The budget explicitly aligns programme performance indicators and outcomes to the GAP. However the focus is no longer limited to 0-6 month and prioritizes nutritional at risk infants and children December 2023

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