Nutrition for Every Child
UNICEF–EU Partnership in Action
Every child has the right to nutrition. Yet malnutrition in all its forms—undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight—continues to undermine child survival, growth and development of millions of children and women worldwide. Guided by the UNICEF Nutrition Strategy 2020–2030 and the European Union’s global nutrition priorities, UNICEF and the EU work together to protect and promote nutritious diets, essential nutrition services and positive nutrition practices –in development, fragile and humanitarian settings alike.
What UNICEF and the EU achieve together
Preventing malnutrition across the life cycle
With EU support, UNICEF strengthens national and subnational nutrition programmes that prevent stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight - from the first 1,000 days through childhood and adolescence. This includes support to multi‑sector nutrition plans, maternal nutrition, infant and young child feeding, and adolescent nutrition in countries such as Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Malawi, Nepal and Nigeria.
Treating wasting and saving lives
EU humanitarian and development financing enables UNICEF to scale up prevention, early detection and treatment of wasting, often integrated into primary health care systems. High‑impact programmes in Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria strengthen community‑based care, supply chains and integration with primary health care—often in partnership with WHO.
Scaling impact through the Child Nutrition Fund
The Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) is a flagship financing mechanism of UNICEF that accelerates action to prevent child wasting and other forms of malnutrition by mobilizing and aligning catalytic funding. EU contributions help strengthen the CNF’s ability to scale high‑impact nutrition interventions, support government leadership, and close critical financing gaps—ensuring faster, more sustainable results for children in high‑burden countries.
Nutrition in humanitarian action
As Global Nutrition Cluster Lead Agency, UNICEF -supported by EU humanitarian funding- coordinates large‑scale, life‑saving nutrition responses in crises including Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh (Rohingya response), the State of Palestine and Lebanon, ensuring continuity from emergency response to recovery.
Strengthening systems for sustainable nutrition
Reflecting the shared UNICEF–EU systems approach, nutrition action is embedded across:
- Health systems (nutrition services, workforce and supplies);
- WASH systems (safe water and hygiene to prevent undernutrition);
- Education systems (school‑based nutrition and healthy food environments);
- Social protection systems (nutrition‑responsive and shock‑responsive programmes).
By aligning UNICEF’s global nutrition leadership, innovative financing tools such as the Child Nutrition Fund, and the EU’s political, financial and policy commitments, the partnership delivers integrated, equitable and sustainable nutrition solutions—from humanitarian response to long‑term systems strengthening.
