SCN News No 34 - UNSCN

www.unsystem.org/scn FEATURES 15
Actions Needed to Make Freedom from Child Hunger a Reality
Sheila Sisulu, Deputy Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)
Introductory remarks
WFP welcomes the Symposium theme of the 34 th SCN Session of Working Together to Achieve Freedom
from Child Hunger and Undernutrition. We all know that the consequences of child hunger and undernutrition
are extreme for individuals, for families and for the communities and nations concerned. The death toll from
hunger and undernutrition far exceeds that caused by even the most dramatic natural disasters.
The causes and costs of child hunger and undernutrition are immense. The World Bank (2006) says that
improving nutrition is as much an issue of economics as one of welfare, social protection and human rights.
Failing to address child hunger and undernutrition – according to SCN’s own estimates - adds up to
$20-30 billion per year. Failing to address undernutrition compromises progress on all of the Millennium
Development Goals.
WFP fully supports SCN’s vision that it is possible to end child hunger and undernutrition within a generation.
But this is not possible if we continue to do business as usual. The combined efforts of the global community
have failed to make adequate progress to date in tackling hunger and undernutrition. Effective strategies to
combat child hunger do exist.
The causes of child hunger are predictable, preventable and can be addressed through affordable means.
Combined with improved research and technology, ending child hunger is no longer just a utopian dream. It is
operationally feasible. Unfortunately the wealth of knowledge that members of the SCN, academic and
development community possess does not always translate into effective action. Too often, our efforts are
fragmented. Interventions that work need to be applied together, at the same time, in the places where they
can do the most good. An urgent and coordinated effort is needed.
The previous Executive Director of WFP, Jim Morris, has been a passionate advocate for the fight against
child hunger for the past five years. WFP’s commitment to acting more effectively to address the needs of
some 400 million hungry children - including 149 million underweight children under the age of five - has not
diminished with his retirement in April.
WFP and UNICEF are working more closely than ever, and with the widest possible group of partners, to
launch such an urgent and coordinated effort. The “Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition
Initiative” (ECHUI) has adopted the vision of the SCN as its goal – it seeks to end child hunger and
undernutrition within a generation (SCN 2006). We will focus on supporting country efforts to double the rate
at which underweight among children under five is reduced.
Concrete actions to end child hunger
ECHUI aims to scale up and apply known solutions to hunger and undernutrition, by bringing cohesion to the
various initiatives and efforts in nutrition, children, education and health.
We need to align UN efforts to tackle child hunger, enabling the UN to play a more consistent role in
strengthening national government responses to hunger. ECHUI will promote simple, cost-effective and
proven interventions:
• micronutrient supplements
• household water treatment
• hand-washing with soap
• parasite controls (particularly deworming)
• household food security interventions
• education on health, hygiene and nutrition.
back to contents SCN NEWS # 34