Recent cuts in foreign aid have forced Save the Children to suspend lifesaving programmes for malnourished children as a reported 131 million children live in areas experiencing acute food crises globally.
In a remote corner of northern Afghanistan, where winter has set in, health workers are battling the clock to care for malnourished children as foreign aid cuts threaten to halt their efforts in the next 30 days, Save the Children said.
For three and a half years, Dr Hanif* and his team at a Save the Children-supported clinic in northern Afghanistan have been the only lifeline for the community—providing essential care to 2,500 patients each month. Now the clinic is only being kept open with limited emergency funding from Save the Children. In a matter of weeks, the clinic could be gone—leaving hundreds of malnourished children without access to the care they desperately need.
“Our clinic is the only option for this community. There is no local doctor or nurse here,” said Dr Hanif. “The community is deeply disheartened [by the cuts]. At present, we have 135 malnourished children under treatment [at this clinic]. Should the clinic close, their families will be unable to afford the cost of taking them to either a public or private clinic, as they cannot pay for transportation to the nearest clinic. The doctors and nurses have pledged to work without pay for four or five months because our country is in dire need, and the community cannot survive without these essential services.”
Recent cuts in foreign aid have forced Save the Children to suspend lifesaving programmes for malnourished children as a reported 131 million children live in areas experiencing acute food crises globally, the child rights organisation said.
In Afghanistan, the loss of funding has already led to the closure of 18 health facilities supported by Save the Children and its partner. Only 14 Save the Children clinics have enough funding to remain open for one more month, and without new financial support, they will be forced to close. These 32 clinics supported over 134,000 children in January alone.
Governments across the world are cutting foreign aid budgets, with about 40 countries impacted across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East by an abrupt halt to US government foreign aid. These cuts are threatening health, nutrition and education programmes for millions of children with Save the Children forced to close hundreds of health facilities and nutrition centres that provide lifesaving care for children.
Gabriella Waaijman, Chief Operating Officer at Save the Children International, said:
“We’ve been saving children for over 100 years—it’s why we exist and why it’s in our name. With more children in need of aid than ever before, cutting off lifesaving support now is like trying to extinguish a wildfire with a hose that’s running out of water.”
Children like Sahar*, 11 months, born amid the war in Gaza, are at extreme risk of starvation and malnutrition due to skyrocketing food prices and the already severe lack of access to lifesaving aid.
Sahar’s mother, Zainab*, 24, was pregnant when the war began. She did not receive adequate medical assistance during her childbirth and struggled to buy food for her daughter.
“The war took everything – I ended up having to beg on the streets just to get clothes for her. I don’t know how I survived. There was no food,” said Zainab. “She was malnourished, and I couldn’t buy milk for her. But I found Save the Children, and they helped me.”
In Gaza, where nearly all 1.1 million children face critical food insecurity, aid cuts mean reducing treatment and services for malnourished children mid-recovery and closing 10 mother-baby areas where Save the Children is supporting pregnant women and newborns with critical nutrition assistance.
Every minute, about 35 children are born into hunger. Economic instability, conflict, and climate shocks are driving a global hunger crisis that is stunting children’s growth, impairing their development, and weakening their immune systems.
Children suffering from malnutrition are 11 times more likely to die from common childhood illnesses and diseases.
Families in Somalia are facing an equally dire situation due to aid budgets being cut. Somalia has been on the frontlines of the climate crisis for decades which has fuelled extreme hunger. By April, 4.4 million people – about one in five in the country – will not know where their next meal will come from. Due to aid cuts, Save the Children is forced to close about 121 health and nutrition sites in Somalia, cutting off support for more than 250,000 people.
Save the Children is calling on world leaders, partners, and everyone around the world to financially invest in children and their futures. In the longer term, we know the aid sector will be forever changed by these rapid decisions to cut foreign aid, but it is vital that alongside addressing immediate need, we collectively come together to reform the system to deliver effectively for children. Investing in children today creates a safer, brighter, and more stable world for us all. This is not just about funding – any reset or reform processes across the sector must defend the values underpinning foreign aid.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.
