UNITLIFE Trust Fund 

ObjectivesFund scope

UNITLIFE is a United Nations interagency pooled fund dedicated to fighting chronic childhood malnutrition (stunting). Carrying out its mission under the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Fund delivers practical solutions for resolving the silent and widespread pandemic of stunting.  

One of the more common diseases to affect children globally, chronic malnutrition receives less media attention than acute malnutrition, famine, or starvation. Its invisibility is problematic because the effects of chronic malnutrition on childhood development are irreversible and have much physiological and societal consequences. Approximately 35% of children under the age of five are affected by stunting in Africa and Asia.

The focus of UNITLIFE is to employ women as agents of change in addressing chronic malnutrition. Evidence shows that undernutrition in children is caused by various practices like early marriage/conception, poor maternal nutritional and health, lack of secondary education, domestic violence, inadequate decision‐making power, or little control over resources. UNITLIFE stands behind women in all aspects of individual and community life, supporting projects that:

• Increase women’s leadership and participation 
• Enhance women’s economic empowerment 
• End violence against women 
• Engage women in all aspects of peace and security processes 

Because stunting results from several environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural factors, its reduction requires integrated and layered nutrition interventions. This is why UNITLIFE finances initiatives that directly address childhood stunting and other immediate effects of malnutrition, as well as gender gaps in climate-smart agriculture.  

Theory of change

Reducing chronic malnutrition is achieved by addressing the immediate effects (stunting) and root causes, including gender inequality. If local and national capacities address child stunting and gender inequality in tandem then malnutrition decreases. Similar logic applies to the availability and quality of programmes targeting the causes of malnutrition—if increased, and the capacity for providing treatment strengthened, child stunting and malnutrition will decrease because of improvements in food intake and health outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. 

Furthermore, on the gender equity side, if women’s access to land and productive resources increase then the nutritional status of children, pregnant, and lactating women improve due to heightened agricultural productivity, greater earning potential and revenue, and improvements to the decision-making authority of women farmers.  

UNITLIFE directly contributes to SDG 1 (poverty), SDG 2 (food security), SDG 3 (health), SDG 4 (education), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 6 (water and sanitation), and SDG 10 (reduced inequality). The Fund supports solutions that reduce poverty and hunger, improve access to health and sanitation, enhance cognitive abilities and school performance, and advance women’s empowerment. By default, Fund action also has a significant outcomes for SDG 8 (inclusive and sustainable growth), SDG 13 (climate change), and SDG 16 (peace and security).

GovernanceGovernance arrangements

Steering Committee 

The Steering Committee, in accordance with its rules of procedure, provides overarching high-level strategic direction for the Fund, and advice on effective management and operations. The Committee is responsible for various functions, which include strategic oversight, overseeing the implementation of the Fund, reviewing overall performance, signing off on portfolio revisions, and approving investment plans, eligibility criteria, theory of change, and direct costs budgets.

Secretariat 

Holding technical and operational expertise, the Secretariat facilitates the overall operation of the Fund. A primary role of the Secretariat is to manage the approval of initiative proposals in accordance with investment plans and allocation envelopes, as endorsed by the Steering Committee.   

UNITLIFE Champions  

Vital to success is the involvement of private sector partners. When getting in the ring with UNITLIFE, partners commit to using digital innovations on a global scale and maintaining strong ethical business practices in the process. Demonstrating global excellence in their fields of business and offering global reach with broad information distribution channels, UNITLIFE Champions clear pathways for stakeholders to go down while addressing chronic malnutrition and the gender gap in agriculture.

Administrative Agent 

Participating Organizations receive funds through the Administrative Agent, Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) Office. The Administrative Agent is responsible for the receipt, administration and management of contributions from donors, disbursement of funds to Participating Organizations, and consolidation and dissemination of progress reports to donors.  

Participating Organizations 

Programme implementation is the responsibility of Participating Organizations. Each organization is programmatically and financially responsible for resources received. 

Projects

UNITLIFE Trust Fund

UNITLIFE Trust Fund is currently supporting count_projects ongoing projectscount_globalInterregional and count_countries country-specific. This table shows the most recently approved ongoing projects.

All project financial information can be found in the Financials section, including delivery analysis by organization, theme and project; project financial status by country and by theme.

UNITLIFE Trust Fund

Results

Committed to fighting chronic childhood malnutrition, UNITLIFE delivers practical solutions for resolving the silent and widespread pandemic of stunting among children. The Trust Fund carries out its mission under the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and looks to women and private sector partners as agents of change in fighting chronic malnutrition and closing gender equity gaps by way of advances in climate-smart agriculture. 

ContactsPoints of contact