The Federal Ministry of Health of Ethiopia, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the World Food Programme (WFP), officially launched the Joint UN Initiative for the Prevention of Wasting (JUNIPr) to accelerate national efforts against child wasting, a severe form of malnutrition affecting over 11% of Ethiopian children under five. The initiative aims to design, test, and scale evidence-based interventions to prevent wasting in children aged 0 to 18 months and is part of a five-year multisectoral program supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), also being piloted in Mali and Bangladesh.
The launch was marked by a four-day Co-Creation Workshop in Adama Town from 17–20 July 2025, bringing together over 40 participants, including representatives from regional health bureaus, line ministries, UN agencies, academic institutions, NGOs, and technical experts. The workshop focused on problem analysis, policy mapping, and collaborative discussions to begin shaping a comprehensive prevention package tailored to Ethiopia’s local context.
JUNIPr builds on the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting and the 2023 WHO Guidelines, emphasizing evidence generation through research led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), development of locally tailored interventions, strengthening systems across health, nutrition, water/sanitation, social protection, and influencing policy at national and global levels. The initiative represents a shift from reactive treatment to proactive prevention and from fragmented approaches to integrated, multisectoral strategies.
The next phase of JUNIPr will involve detailed context analysis, data review, and a second national workshop in early 2026 to finalize the intervention package. Ethiopia’s experience through this initiative is expected to serve as a model for other countries seeking to address child wasting through a coordinated, systems-based approach.
