USAID Cuts Spark Surge in Global Child Mortality: Nearly One Million Children Left Without Lifesaving Nutrition

Written on 16/05/2025
UNN

Massive funding cuts from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are fueling a tragic spike in child mortality across the world's poorest nations. Nearly one million children are no longer receiving treatment for severe malnutrition — a gap that could prove fatal.

In Nigeria’s Borno State, families like Yagana Bulama’s are bearing the brunt. Once a farmer, Bulama lost one of her newborn twins to malnutrition, a growing reality for many displaced by conflict and reliant on dwindling international aid.

For years, USAID played a crucial role in delivering food, medicine, and shelter in crisis zones. But this year, over 90% of its foreign aid contracts were slashed — part of a $60 billion global cut. The result: UNICEF and humanitarian NGOs are overwhelmed and underfunded.

According to Helen Keller Intl’s Sean Baker, USAID previously funded 50% of the world's supply of therapeutic food for malnourished children — 40% of which was produced in the U.S. The collapse of that support now leaves countless children at risk.