As parliament returns from Easter recess, a report released by Save the
Children UK reveals that the Department for International Development and the EC are neglecting millions of chronically malnourished children. Malnutrition is responsible for more child
deaths than anything else, yet the UK government spends less than 1p per day on each hungry child in the world. The EC fares only slightly better spending 2.5 euro cents (1.7p) per child per day. In 2000 world leaders promised to halve the number of chronically malnourished, or stunted, children by 2015. Since that pledge was made rates have only decreased by 2% and the number of
malnourished children is actually set to rise in 32 countries. In Africa, if current trends continue, 3.7 million more children will be suffering from malnutrition in 2015 than today. The
countries with the biggest potential increases are Yemen, Ethiopia and Sudan. Save the Children's latest report shows that tackling chronic child malnutrition is not a big enough
priority for the UK government or the EC and that their response does not match the scale of the problem. The report finds that:
DFID contributes £513.6 million per year to
combating malnutrition in developing countries - equating to less than 1 pence per malnourished child per day. The EC contributes £946.8 million- equating to 1.7p per child per day (see Notes to
Editors).
Not one of DFID's 1,400 HQ staff is a dedicated nutrition specialist.
In 2000 world leaders agreed to use the number of people suffering from hunger as a measure of
progress towards the Millennium Development Goals - but the EC and DFID are not reporting on this measure. This means the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, is not accountable to Parliament on any
indicators related to hunger. Both DFID and the EC are assuming that money spent in other areas will have a secondary impact on hunger but Save the Children is challenging that assumption.
Anna Taylor, Save the Children UK's Head of Hunger Reduction, said: "Chronic malnutrition stops children growing properly and leaves them stunted. It results from getting a poor diet, day
in day out and from constantly getting infections. The response by DFID and the EC does not match the scale of the problem. As ministers return to office today, Save the Children UK is demanding that
the UK Government stop turning a blind eye to these hungry children and act now to combat malnutrition." Save the Children UK is calling on DFID and the EC to immediately invest in
tackling malnutrition and to specifically target children under two. Only by tackling malnutrition in the first two years of life can its devastating effects be reversed. The charity is urging them to
take action now to get the first millennium development goal back on track.
These figures include bilateral funding of direct and indirect nutrition interventions (from DfID or
EC), plus their funding of relevant other institutions, such as UNICEF. It does not include funding for civil society or for emergency food aid (except that given through the World Food
Programme). It is based on data from the creditor reporting system of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. These data rely on
reporting by donor agencies.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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