Read at : IRIN
$8.8 billion the magic malnutrition number?
DAKAR, 24 November 2009 (IRIN) – It would take US$8.8 billion annually over several years to halve the number of malnourished children worldwide, currently at some 178 million, says Save the Children in a new eight-point action plan.
In its report, Hungry for change, Save the Children focuses on eight countries where it says half of the world’s malnourished children live: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Sudan and Vietnam.
Political leaders have focused on agriculture and food security at the expense of nutrition in their response to global high food prices, Alex Rees, head of Save the Children’s hunger reduction team, told IRIN.
“The nutrition MDG [Millennium Development Goal] has not had high-level political attention,” he said. “Malnutrition has no champions….Malnutrition is typically everyone’s business but no one’s responsibility”.
Five percent of the 19 million children suffering severe acute malnutrition reportedly receive treatment annually, while donor funding for nutrition interventions in 2008 amounted to just $2 per child under two in the 20 worst-affected countries, according to the Lancet.
Save the Children’s Rees said: “Malnutrition should go right to the top and all the ministries involved in it report directly to the President’s office.”
The Ethiopian government is among a handful to have adopted this approach, which Rees said has made its response to malnutrition more effective.
Economic barriers
The $8.8-billion price tag on Save the Children’s plan is equivalent to the annual budget of the UK Department of International Development (DFID).
Save the Children says donors and governments must address the underlying economic causes of malnutrition through cash transfers or social protection schemes such as education and health subsidies.
(continued)
