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FROM THE FIELD

Countries struggling to slow increase in child hunger
10 Dec 2008 00:13:00 GMT
 Source: International Save the Children Alliance
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Background

•  Food and hunger

•  African hunger

•  E. African hunger

•  S. African hunger

•  Children

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Hunger is now the biggest threat to child development across the world, with global progress on eradicating malnutrition slowing, stalling, or sliding into reverse in some countries. But a new international index from Save the Children also reveals that some poor countries are making greater  progress in reducing child deprivation. 

For example, the new index reveals that Ethiopia and Malawi, among the poorest African countries, have made the largest reductions in child deprivation in the region while South Africa and Botswana have seen an increase in child deprivation despite being among the richest African countries and experiencing high economic growth at the same time.

The Child Development Index is the world's first to give a true picture of global progress on child deprivation. No other index ranks country performances globally, monitoring and comparing progress on three key areas specific to children; health, education and hunger.

David Mepham, Save the Children's Director of Policy, said: "The significant reductions in child deprivation in countries like Malawi, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Tanzania shows that improvements in child's well-being are possible - even in the poorest countries. The key is having pro-poor policies in place such as making education and healthcare affordable."

However, hunger continues to be the biggest stumbling block for the majority of countries  and is responsible for a staggering 3.5 million child deaths every year and our study shows that progress in eradicating hunger has dramatically slowed down. In the current climate of spiraling food prices, malnutrition continues to be widely neglected.

The Child Development Index, Holding Governments to Account for Children's Wellbeing, also finds:

David Mepham, continued: "National governments and donors must urgently take decisive action to cut malnutrition rates, including support cash transfer programmes, supplementary feeding, the scale up of treatments for acute malnutrition and support for breastfeeding."

More information 

Contact 

Please contact Rachel Bhatia, Save the Children Media Manager, Tel +44 (0) 207 012 6469 /  +44 (0) 797 0511 242.

Website

You can view the Child Development Index in map form, download all the data, and compare different countries and regions for your own research and advocacy on our website: www.savethechildren.org.uk/childindex


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Topics

•  Children

•  Food and hunger

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Emergencies

•  African hunger

•  E. African hunger

•  S. African hunger

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

Briefings
African hunger - [Who works where]
E. African hunger - [Who works where]
S. African hunger - [Who works where]

Topics
Children Food and hunger
Facts & figures
Bangladesh Bhutan Ethiopia India Iraq Lebanon Malawi Pakistan Palestinian territories

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