Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the news story on gov.uk, PM pledges new support for countries on the food security frontline, published on 24 June 2022, how many children at risk of wasting she expects to be protected from wasting by (a) the £2 million for the Nutrition Match Fund contribution and (b) other UK Government development assistance contributions in 2022.

The UK's recent £2 million contribution to the Nutrition Match Fund and the additional funds it has leveraged will treat an estimated 40,000 severely wasted children in 2022. The Prime Minister has urgently called for others to step up and contribute to the Nutrition Match Fund.

Many more children will be reached by the UK's wider partnership with UNICEF which aims to strengthen systems for preventing and treating child wasting in 9 African and Asian countries and other programmes, which are supporting the roll out of lifesaving nutrition services - including treatment for acute malnutrition. One example is the FCDO's Sahel Humanitarian Emergency Response Programme, which aims to reach 56,891 children by December 2022.