African Leaders to the World: Our Children Cannot Wait

In a shifting aid landscape, high-level representatives from Lesotho and Kenya were joined by Canada, France, Ireland and other global partners at an event on the margins of UNGA 81. African voices came together to elevate child survival and nutrition as sovereign priorities and the gathering produced a call to action to the world.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- For the first time this century, the number of children dying from preventable causes is predicted to rise. Today, on the margins of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, African high-level representatives joined global partners to confront that trend head-on, making the case that child survival and nutrition belong at the centre of national priorities, backed by domestic resources, country-led plans and sustained accountability.

The high-level side event “Our Children Cannot Wait: Leadership for Child Survival and Nutrition” was convened by His Majesty King Letsie III of Lesotho, African Union Nutrition Champion, in partnership with Nutrition International and the Government of Canada. The Honourable Aden Bare Duale, Cabinet Secretary for Health of the Republic of Kenya, joined a conversation on how Kenya is prioritizing child survival and nutrition within its national agenda, mobilizing domestic resources and strengthening country ownership.

“The truest measure of any nation is not found in its GDP tables or its infrastructure. It is found in the bodies and minds of its youngest children,” said His Majesty King Letsie III of Lesotho, African Union Nutrition Champion. “As foreign aid retreats, Africa must claim ‘nutrition sovereignty’: funding, delivering and measuring child nutrition through its own governments and systems, not through donor priorities. True sovereignty is impossible while a nation’s children still depend on outside help just to survive and develop.”

Without a change in course, more than 30 million children are projected to die from preventable causes over the next five years, with malnutrition accounting for roughly half of those deaths. Africa will bear the heaviest toll: an estimated 18 million of those deaths will be African children and at least 50 million African children will be born too small or too soon, facing lifelong development penalties.

The message from African leaders to the international community was direct: join us in this effort.

“As Kenya shapes its new development vision beyond Vision 2030, we believe strengthening human capital, including child nutrition, must be foundational to the Kenya we are building. Kenya’s experience has shown that progress happens fastest when decisions are made close to the communities they affect,” said His Excellency William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya. “Through county-led, costed nutrition action plans, leaders identify priorities, mobilize resources and respond to the needs of women and children in their own communities. Our challenge now is to ensure that every county has the financing, leadership and accountability mechanisms needed to deliver results at scale, so that every Kenyan child, in every county, has the same chance to survive and thrive.”

"Nutrition and child survival are at the heart of Africa's future. Countries are mobilizing their own resources, building resilient systems and holding themselves accountable for results,” said Her Excellency Ambassador Amma Twum-Amoah, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, African Union Commission. “This is African leadership, even as the global aid landscape shifts beneath us. The African Union stands ready to support our member states in this work, and we will carry this momentum forward."

Development partners including Canada, Ireland, France and representatives of philanthropy, United Nations agencies and global health institutions discussed how the global community can sustain momentum, invest in what works and get behind country-led solutions at a moment of heightened global uncertainty.

“Today we heard African leaders say that child survival and nutrition are among top priorities. Their call for action is clear,” said the Honourable Randeep Sarai, Canada’s Secretary of State (International Development). “Canada will continue to work alongside these governments and with partners such as Nutrition International to advance their goals, because children cannot wait.”

“Child survival and the fight against malnutrition have always been important issues. In today’s new global development environment, they are critical,” said Joel Spicer, President and CEO, Nutrition International. “What we saw today was African governments taking major steps forward in owning this agenda: setting the priorities, putting more of their own resources to work and telling partners how they can help. Nutrition International has worked alongside these governments for more than 30 years. We look forward to continuing to support this agenda, and we are excited about the road ahead.”

The discussion is captured in the Child Survival Principles and Call to Action, a statement of principles and priorities that draws on what participating leaders and partners put forward at the event. Grounded in African leadership and country ownership, it frames child survival as a sovereign priority, recognizes nutrition and prevention as foundational to lasting progress, and points to stronger domestic financing, aligned partnerships and shared accountability for results. It closes with a direct call for international partners to join African leaders in this effort: to invest in what already works, sustain the momentum of this moment and stand behind country-led solutions rather than parallel initiatives of their own. It also provides a foundation for continued collaboration, including through a voluntary community of leaders on child survival and nutrition and future opportunities to review progress and elevate lessons learned.

This gathering was designed as the opening move in a longer sequence, not a standalone event. Leaders and partners will reconvene at the Doha Forum in December to translate these principles into concrete commitments, and work is already underway with the African Union, governments and partners to build the country-led delivery and financing model this agenda requires. Updates will follow in the coming months. Our children cannot wait, and neither will the leaders who gathered today. Join us.

About Nutrition International

Nutrition International is a global nutrition organization headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. For more than 30 years, we have worked alongside governments as an expert ally, strengthening the systems and platforms already in place to deliver cost-effective, high-impact nutrition interventions to those who need them most, without adding complexity or cost. As countries take on greater ownership of their own nutrition and health investments, we are building the technical, operational and financial partnerships needed to help that leadership scale. In more than 60 countries, primarily in Asia and Africa, Nutrition International nourishes people to nourish life.

For more information: NutritionIntl.org/our-children-cannot-wait

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260924576767/en/

Media contact

Wanda O’Brien
Manager, Storytelling, Nutrition International
[email protected]

Source: Nutrition International

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