The failure of the UK to make a financial commitment or impact target at this year’s Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit is deeply concerning.
The Covid-19 pandemic is pushing up rates of malnutrition, with an additional 225 children dying each day as a result.
Now more than ever, we needed to see a strong UK pledge to tackle malnutrition – with clear, fully funded commitments. But the UK’s contribution at the summit fell far short of expectations, particularly in comparison to other global development donors and especially as the UK had previously been a leader in this area after initiating the first-ever N4G summit in 2013.
The Minister’s assurance that they would seek to integrate nutrition across other areas of UK aid is welcome, but does nothing to reverse the 70% cuts to nutrition-specific programmes that we have seen in the past year.
With 45% of all child deaths linked to malnutrition and 149 million children facing life-long impacts due to stunting, the decision of the UK to step back on this issue will devastate lives and seriously undermines the FCDO’s ambitions in other areas, including ending preventable deaths, tackling gender inequality and strengthening global health.
Jean-Michel Grand, Executive Director at Action Against Hunger UK, responded to this decision:
“At a time when the number of children at risk of dying from malnutrition in the world is rising, it is heartbreaking to see the UK’s leadership on nutrition in such decline. It is a measure of the devastating impact of steep UK aid cuts, that tackling the cause of nearly half of young child deaths is not an urgent government priority. With the conclusion of the spending review, we urge the FCDO to make nutrition a priority for future action.”