G8 stunted agenda on nutrition

Monday, June 17, 2013

Andrew Griffiths, Child Health Policy Advisor , World Vision UK

In 2009 the G8 leaders, to great acclaim, pledged $20bn over three years to tackle food insecurity. Four years on and only $15bn has been spent. This year, governments, businesses and NGOs like World Vision pledged $4bn to tackle childhood undernutrition. Yet these are still just promises and, as the 2009 G8 story demonstrates, the G8 has a rather chequered history with actually delivering on promises.

I am pretty disappointed with the marginalisation of nutrition in the G8 – a week after the UK, Brazil and CIFF “Nutrition for Growth” event, the world seems to have stopped talking about the horrific injustice of 3.1 million children dying because of poor nutrition and 165 million stunted children. The focus is on critical issues like transparency and tax, but these issues are only important if they make a real difference in the lives of the world’s poorest; as the Pope said in his letter to David Cameron this week, we need to highlight something that “is implicit in all political choices, but can sometimes be forgotten: the primary importance of putting humanity, every single man and woman, at the centre of all political and economic activity”.

That is why World Vision is talking about the need for the G8 to focus on the three “T”’s of nutrition:

  • Truth – meaning what they say and saying what they mean. The G8’s record on funding for hunger and nutrition does not currently fit into this category
  • Taller – one in four children in the world is stunted through undernutrition. Delivering on promises they have made would mean taller, healthier children around the world
  • Tax-payers – spending their money on the most cost-effective ways of saving children’s lives and ensuring they have a full and healthy future

If the G8 does not live up to these three “T”’s the world will not be able to tackle the injustice of undernourished children. World Vision made a pledge at the Nutrition for Growth event – we will honour that pledge. We just want the G8 governments to make promises they will keep and keep to promises they make - it’s not asking too much, is it?