CHILD MALNUTRITION: 'Everybody's business, nobody's responsibility'

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Summary: Less than a penny a day: UK and EC failing to tackle child malnutrition despite millennium promises

[LONDON, 16 April 2007] - 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.
  • 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’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 is demanding that the UK Government stop turning a blind eye to these hungry children and act now to combat malnutrition.”

Save the Children 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.

Further information

pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/Everybody'sBizBriefingFinal.pdf

Organisation: 
Save the Children UK
Attachment Link: 
http://www.crin.org/docs/Everybody'sBizBriefingFinal.pdf

Countries

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.