New figures declare that financing must be tripled to achieve stunting goals

On 14th July 2015, the event “Financing Growth: Mobilizing Leadership and Investment in Nutrition” was held in the margins of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) to build the investment case for nutrition. New estimates shared by the World Bank reveal that an additional $8.50 per child under 5 is needed to meet the global stunting targets, covering the scale up of high impact, proven interventions. This is equivalent to $49.6 billion additional over ten years which includes $42 billion for the 37 highest burden countries.

$49.6 billion in additional global financing for nutrition is needed over 10 years

The event was co-hosted by the Micronutrient Initiative, Government of Ethiopia, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, World Bank, UNICEF, RESULTS for Development (R4D) and 1,000 Days, and was attended by supporters who recognise that nutrition is fundamental to sustainable development and prosperity.

In the opening, Ethiopian Minister of Health stressed the importance of recognising nutrition as a multiple sector issue – that it requires leadership, coordination and resources across many sectors. The First Lady of Ethiopia emphasised that the priority of nutrition is beyond health – that nutrition is also an economic and development priority.

“Country nutrition plans are the basis, these are the plans to be funded and where the support needs to be aligned. 55 countries in the SUN Movement are setting up plans and learning from each other. The global efforts for resource mobilization are there to back up these plans” – Tom Arnold, Coordinator ad interim, SUN Movement

Discussions identified a range of approaches to finance nutrition for both the healthy growth of children and the growth of economies. The World Bank and R4D launched the first in a series of costing and financing scenarios for reaching the global nutrition targets, specifically the target calling for a 40% reduction in child stunting.

The objectives of the brief were to:

• Highlight the importance of prioritising nutrition financing in the proposed Sustainable Development Goals
• Explore the need for greater cooperation and partnership to mobilize all sources of finance—including domestic and international, public and private—to target both nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive interventions
• Provide a launching pad for discussion on the global stunting target, and the first global financial estimates necessary to achieve the six global nutrition targets

Meera Sheeker, Lead Health & Nutrition Specialist at the World Bank presented the size of the the problem. She stated the overall need for additional investments worldwide in order to reach the 162 million children who are stunted and reminded the audience that every $1 invested in ending stunting brings $18 in economic returns.

See the speaker biographies including Christian Paradis, Canadian International Development Minister, who is also a member of the SUN Movement Lead Group.

Learn more about the event: Micronutrient Initiative | Results for Development

Learn more about the World Health Assembly 2025 Global Targets: World Health Organisation 

Learn more about the Third International Conference on Financing for Development: Nutrition at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development