UNICEF provides Burkina Faso with a stock of therapeutic food to treat more than 120,000 acutely malnourished children in 2025

OUAGADOUGOU, 23 April 2025 – UNICEF has donated essential materials, equipment and nutritional supplies to the Ministry of Health to care for 122,000 children aged six months to 5 years suffering from severe acute malnutrition, as well as deworm and prevent vitamin A deficiency among children, and anaemia among adolescent girls and pregnant women in Burkina Faso.

"As in the past, the Government of Burkina Faso and its partners are making significant efforts to provide health centres and hospitals with life-saving nutritional and medical supplies across the country. Ready-to-use therapeutic foods are exclusively for children with severe acute malnutrition. They are offered free of charge to children and selling them is illegal," said Dr. Robert Lucien Jean-Claude Kargougou, Minister of Health of Burkina Faso.

Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is a peanut-based food containing sugar, vegetable fats, skimmed milk, and a mineral and vitamin complex, and is highly effective in treating severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children aged six months to 5 years, in nutritional recovery and education centres (CRENs) or at home.

A worrying nutritional situation was revealed by the Standardized Monitoring and Evaluation of Rapid Relief and Transition Phases (SMART) survey commissioned by the Ministry of Health in October 2024, in 22 communes in the regions most affected by insecurity in Burkina Faso. In 12 communes, the prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM), which is considered high, is between 10% and 15%; it is considered very high in three localities where the threshold of 15% has been crossed, and moderate in seven municipalities where the prevalence is between 5% and 9%.

UNICEF provided essential nutritional materials, equipment and supplies thanks to funding from major donors to the nutrition sector, namely USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the European Union, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), strengthening its support to the national nutrition programme and nutrition emergency response. With an estimated value of more than 5.5 billion CFA francs, the provision includes, among others:

• 110,000 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) to treat children suffering from severe acute malnutrition
• 750,000 Shakir’s tapes used to measure the mid-upper arm circumference to screen for malnutrition in children
• 98,800 boxes of albendazole, a medication used to treat various parasitic infections in children, adolescent girls, and women
• 225,000 packets of multiple micronutrient powders (MNP) and lipid supplements (SQ-LNS) to address vitamin and mineral deficiencies in children aged 6 to 23 months,
• 98,000 boxes of iron and folic acid to prevent micronutrient deficiencies and improve learning in adolescent girls,
• 330,000 boxes and blisters of multiple micronutrients (MMS) to prevent micronutrient deficiencies and pregnancy-related complications.

"Children suffering from severe acute malnutrition are at risk of dying if they are not given the right treatment urgently, which is why it is important to pre-position a stock of therapeutic food. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF is working to bring these therapeutic foods to the last mile, saving lives," said James Mugaju, UNICEF Burkina Faso Representative a i.

In addition to this allocation, UNICEF is supporting the Government of Burkina Faso in transporting inputs to areas that are difficult to access by road or air, and is strengthening the knowledge of pregnant and breastfeeding women in good nutritional practices. In 2024, more than 146,000 malnourished children were treated and more than 3 million women were advised in infant and young child feeding (IYCF).

UNICEF launched a $255.1 million funding appeal to effectively respond to multisectoral humanitarian needs in Burkina Faso in 2025. This support is essential to preserve the lives and dignity of millions of people affected by this security and humanitarian crisis, and to ensure the continuity of life-saving services.

About UNICEF
UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, works to protect the rights of every child, everywhere, especially the most disadvantaged children and in the toughest places to reach. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive, and fulfil their potential.

For more information, please contact:

Ndiaga Seck, Head of Communication UNICEF, [email protected]Tel +226 05255898

Bruno Sanogo, Communication Specialist UNICEF Burkina Faso, [email protected]

Tel: +226 564115 15

For more information about UNICEF and its work, please visit: https://www.unicef.org/burkinafaso/