At the 2025 Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit in Paris, the World Bank pledged $5 billion over five years toward nutrition—an amount that falls significantly short of the $5 billion per year that civil society organizations had called for in the lead-up to the Summit. This reduced commitment is especially concerning given that the Bank has previously invested comparable amounts annually, including $3.6 billion in FY22 alone. With nearly 600 million people projected to be chronically undernourished by 2030, and the cost of malnutrition already exceeding $761 billion per year, the scale of the global nutrition crisis demands far greater ambition.
As civil society partners, we urge the World Bank to treat this pledge as a floor, not a ceiling, and to align its nutrition financing with its broader human capital and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals. IDA21 presents a critical opportunity for the Bank to strengthen its leadership, prioritize high-impact interventions, and support countries in scaling up effective, community-based nutrition programs. Investing in nutrition is foundational to economic development, resilience, and the well-being of future generations. We must act now to close the growing gap.
Signatories
ACTION Global Health Advocacy Partnership, Global Health Advocates, Results Canada, World Vision International