Engage key stakeholders for the development of strategies to mobilize the finance needed for acute malnutrition based on the cost estimate for the global action plan, with the express goal of overcoming the multi-billion-dollar funding gap that prevents all children from accessing the care they need.

International Rescue Committee (IRC) Nutrition for Growth (N4G) commitment

The IRC is pleased to make an N4G commitment centred on our efforts to expand treatment for child wasting in the fragile and conflict-affected settings where we work. The IRC’s work in nutrition encompasses prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition and integration of nutrition within early childhood development, food security and cash programming in humanitarian contexts. The IRC envisions a world where all children needing treatment for acute malnutrition can access the care they need. Through collaborative efforts with partners, the IRC will seek to dramatically expand treatment access for acutely malnourished children, building on current research to make treatment easier to deliver, more accessible and more cost-effective. We will approach these efforts through strengthening the global research base on simplified approaches to acute malnutrition treatment, scaling treatment programmes to reach more children in need and providing evidence-based policy recommendations to strengthen national and global nutrition policies. We make the following commitments:

• Research: The IRC has developed and researched simplified approaches for treating children with acute malnutrition, including a simplified, combined protocol for treating children with severe and moderate acute malnutrition together in one programme and delivering treatment through community health workers. Over the coming four years, the IRC will complete 1 randomised controlled trial examining the use of simplified approaches for children at high-risk of mortality, 10 operational pilots using simplified approaches for acute malnutrition treatment in different contexts and 5 cost analyses to build an evidence base on the cost-effectiveness of simplified approaches for acute malnutrition treatment.

• Programming: By the end of 2025, the IRC will provide 1 million children with access to treatment for acute malnutrition.

• Financing: The IRC commits to engaging key stakeholders for the development of strategies to mobilise the finances needed for acute malnutrition based on the cost estimate for the global action plan, with the express goal of overcoming the multibillion-dollar funding gap that prevents all children from accessing the care they need.

• Policy change: The IRC will use its voice, convening power and influence to help expand access to acute malnutrition treatment. By the end of 2025, the IRC’s policy-change efforts will have helped ensure the incorporation of simplified approaches to treatment in national nutrition plans in at least five countries.