Reflections on the UN Global Action Plan (GAP) on Child Wasting: How can the GAP on Child Wasting address gaps in continuity of care?

The development of this brief was funded by the Eleanor Crook Foundation.

The 60th edition of Field Exchange focused on the continuity of care (CoC) for treatment of children with wasting, providing a rich snapshot of programme experiences and research. Priority areas for action were identified in the editorial to address challenges in current ways of working.

In March 2020, five UN agencies (UNICEF, WFP, WHO, UNHCR, FAO) collectively published the Global Action Plan (GAP) on Child Wasting: A framework for action to accelerate progress in preventing and managing child wasting and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. A multi-year, multi-country and multi-stakeholder RoadMap for Action will be developed to facilitate implementation. The Framework and RoadMap will become the GAP on Child Wasting.

The Field Exchange Editors have appraised the GAP Framework in terms of the Field Exchange 60 priority areas of action to identify progress, where clarification is needed and outstanding actions to inform the development of GAP on Child Wasting. 

The development of the GAP on wasting is an unprecedented multi-UN agency-owned action on wasting prevention and treatment. A clearly outlined transparent process and timeline for the development of the roadmap and finalisation of the GAP on child wasting is essential to maximise multi-stakeholder engagement, including government, civil society, funders, the private sector, and regional and country programmers to leverage constructive, collective support to this initiative. We hope that this review is a useful contribution to this effort.