CNF 2024 Annual Report
A year of scaling up efforts to end undernutrition
The call to action is clear: we must act urgently, decisively and together to ensure that every child has good nutrition and a fair chance to thrive.
Amid rising inequality and global crises, the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) is uniting governments, donors and partners to transform how child and maternal undernutrition is addressed.
Grounded in evidence and equity, it scales what works – financing the nutrition actions children and women need to survive and thrive. From Afghanistan to Yemen, the CNF is turning ambition into action through country-led programmes that deliver lasting results.
But real progress demands more than short-term solutions. By building strong systems, strengthening supply chains and empowering national leadership, the CNF is helping to shape a future where every child and woman can reach their full potential.
"Ending undernutrition in children and women demands more than short-term interventions. It requires long-term partnerships with governments to build systems that are properly financed."
The global picture
Progress for the most vulnerable
Since 1990, under-5 mortality has dropped by 61 per cent, and stunting has declined by one-third – enabling 55 million more children to grow and thrive. In the past decade, exclusive breastfeeding rates rose by over 10 percentage points, strengthening early childhood nutrition and development.
Rising to the challenge
Advances are at risk. Today, 148 million children are stunted, 45 million suffer from wasting, and 181 million face severe food poverty. Nearly 30 per cent of women have anaemia, threatening their health and their babies’ survival and development. Inequality, conflict and climate change continue to undermine gains.
Progress toward 2030 targets
Delivering results in five high-priority areas
In 2024, the CNF showed how strong partnerships can deliver impact for children and women. Working closely with governments, donors, financial institutions and implementers, it helped channel more coordinated and reliable funding to nutrition in the world’s most affected countries in five key areas.
Maternal nutrition
2.8 million women reached with MMS
Hundreds of millions of women face undernutrition, anaemia, and micronutrient deficiencies, putting their health and their children’s development at risk. In 2024, the CNF supported country-led maternal nutrition efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Rwanda, reaching 2.8 million pregnant women with MMS, counselling, and community support for healthier pregnancies and improved child outcomes.
Breastfeeding
1.5 million women received IYCF support
Breastfeeding is essential for child survival, growth and lifelong health. Exclusive breastfeeding rates have risen in recent years, bringing the world closer to the 50 per cent target set for 2025. In 2024 alone, nearly 1.5 million women received CNF-supported counselling and outreach to adopt key IYCF practices. In Cambodia, 248,000 caregivers of children under two were reached through health facility visits and community outreach. In Pakistan, over 716,000 mothers and caregivers benefited from community-based efforts to support breastfeeding. Similar initiatives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Malawi helped scale up improved nutrition practices across.
Complementary feeding
219,000 children reached with home fortification
In low-resource settings, poverty and limited access to diverse foods leave many children at risk of undernutrition. Home fortificants like micronutrient powders (MNPs) and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) help fill critical gaps, supporting healthy growth and reducing stunting, wasting and anaemia. In 2024, the CNF reached nearly 200,000 children with MNPs and 20,000 with SQ-LNS in Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Syrian Arab Republic – helping protect vulnerable children where nutritious diets are often out of reach.
Micronutrient supplementation and deworming
1 million children reached with vitamin A and deworming
Micronutrient supplementation is key to child survival in areas where diets lack essential nutrients. Vitamin A can reduce child mortality by up to 24 per cent, while deworming improves nutrient absorption and supports growth. These simple, low-cost interventions help protect children from illness and build a healthier future. In 2024, the CNF–Gavi partnership in Ethiopia reached over 560,000 children with two doses of vitamin A and 410,000 with deworming prophylaxis. Additional programmes in South Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic extended this vital support to children in crisis-affected areas.
Treatment of child wasting
582,000 children treated with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF)
RUTF is a proven treatment for severe wasting, helping children recover at home. But early detection is key. Community-based screening, including colour-coded tapes, ensures children are identified before their condition worsens. In 2024, the CNF financed enough RUTF to treat 582,000 children in 23 countries, with 48 per cent of supplies supported through the Match Window. CNF-backed screening efforts in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Pakistan and Timor-Leste reached 3.4 million children under five – helping catch wasting early and save lives.
Results that matter
Ethiopia
A CNF nutrition‑immunization partnership in Ethiopia is reaching thousands with life‑saving health care interventions – a powerful testament to collaboration and long-term change
Pakistan
By improving maternal nutrition, empowering health workers and preventing undernutrition, CNF-supported initiatives in Pakistan are transforming lives and building a healthier future for children and women
Cambodia
In Cambodia, the CNF is boosting community nutrition through MUAC screening, caregiver counselling, and health-worker training, supporting families to protect children from undernutrition
Financing windows
The CNF’s three financing windows offer a cohesive and flexible approach to addressing undernutrition across diverse country contexts. Each window plays a distinct role but is designed to work in synergy, ensuring countries can access the right type of support at the right time.
In 2024, US$46 million was expensed through the Programme Window and Match Window across 28 countries to deliver high-impact nutrition actions, leveraged alongside domestic co-financing to amplify results.
Fundraising progress
The CNF is progressing toward its US$2 billion goal by 2030, securing US$275 million by end-2024, including US$78 million in 2024 alone. Backed by governments, philanthropies and private donors, contributions are expected to triple in the coming years. These funds are already supporting high-impact nutrition programmes – preventing, detecting, and treating undernutrition in the world’s most vulnerable countries.
The CNF exists for women and children just like Rozan and Zameer in Sindh, Pakistan. Rozan received essential nutrition services and supplies, including MMS, thanks to a community-based package supported by the CNF, leading to a healthy birth and a stronger start to life for her newborn son.
As the CNF expands its partnerships and unlocks innovative financing, its vision remains clear: a world where no child or woman is left behind due to undernutrition. With urgency and unity, we can turn this ambition into lasting, life-changing impact.
Highlights
We are living in an unprecedented era for child and maternal survival and development. Driven by bold leadership, targeted investments and evidence-based interventions, millions more children are growing, learning and thriving worldwide.
However, this hard-won progress faces significant threats. Deepening inequalities, shrinking resources and escalating crises are leaving too many children without adequate nutrition to reach their full potential. Women's health remains under threat, with far-reaching consequences for future generations.
In response, the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) – inaugurated in November 2023 at the Global Food Security Summit in London – has emerged as a cornerstone of global efforts to combat child and maternal undernutrition. More than simply another funding mechanism, the CNF represents a strategic platform uniting governments, donors, and partners to transform nutrition financing and delivery at scale.
