News hook: First ever G8 Agriculture Minister's meet in Italy this weekend
18 April 2009, New Delhi: As ministers meet in Italy for this weekend's first ever G8 Agriculture Ministers meeting, the aid agencies are warning G8 countries that focusing
exclusively on agricultural reform as the solution to global food insecurity will not stop the growing numbers of malnourished children around the world
The failure of the G8 to address child nutrition is putting millions of children's lives at risk, says Save the Children, Action Against Hunger, and Concern Worldwide.
Shireen Vakil Miller, Advocacy and Policy Director, Save the Children India said: "If the G8 ministers continue to ignore undernutrition as an issue in its own right, one billion
people will remain hungry. Millions of children's lives are already at risk
because of undernutrition, and that figure is continuing to rise".
"The disparities between rich and poor are acutely apparent in the shocking hunger and malnutrition rates for large numbers of India's children. In several parts of India child malnutrition ratesare worse than in many sub-Saharan African countries
Key statistics on malnutrition in India:
1. One out of three malnourished children are in India
2. Over 50 % of child deaths are related to malnutrition
3. About 70% of children under the age of five are anaemic
4. Almost half of all children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition
By failing to incorporate nutrition interventions in the response to the food crisis - interventions as basic as supporting poor families to feed their children properly - G8 ministers are preventing the progress desperately needed to stop child deaths."
While global food prices have dropped since last year, they remain prohibitively high for the poorest families. Save the Children's own research shows that up to 10.4 million more children are now malnourished because of last year's food price rises, and the economic crisis is set to push these figures even higher.
Action Against Hunger's Executive Director, Jean-Michel Grand added: "It would be irresponsible to assume that the food crisis was a one-off event and to wait for the next to come. More and more people are sacrificing their future welfare for immediate survival. If action is not taken now, high food prices will trap millions of children in a downwards spiral of poverty and malnutrition," added Miller.
The aid agencies are calling on the G8 Ministers of Agriculture to act urgently and decisively by:
1.Taking immediate and concrete steps to address undernutrition as a legitimate issue of concern in its own right, while recognizing that it is irrefutably linked with agriculture and food security by addressing nutrition in the final Statement to be presented to the G8 Heads of State and Government.
2.Confirming the G8's commitment to the Global Partnership for Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition (GPAFSN) and the need for nutrition to be a pillar of the Global Partnership.
ENDS.
For information and to arrange interview contact:
Pragya Vats +91 9868424692
Save the Children India spokesperson
Shireen Vakil Miller, Director Advocacy and Policy
Notes to Editor:
Save the Children is the world's leading, independent organisation for children that works in over 120 countries around the world. Save the Children India is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance. The organization is working on four core issues including Child protection, Child Survival, education and disaster risk reduction in 12 states and union territories and has reached over 3 million children across India.
Save the Children's latest report 'Freedom from Hunger for Children Under Six' provides compelling evidence on nutritional status of women and children in India.Backed by evidence, the report reinforces the urgency to tackle hunger and malnutrition on an emergency footing if we are to meet our promises to the world and India's children.
Statistics sources: National Family Health Survey III (2005-2006), WHO statistics on Health (2007), Unicef State of the World's Children (2008)
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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