Mon appel contre la sous-nutrition infantile

Chaque année, la sous-nutrition est responsable de 35% des morts infantiles dans le monde. Lorsqu’elle ne tue pas, elle cause des dommages irréversibles au développement des enfants. C’est parce que ce fléau est encore bien trop peu pris en compte dans les programmes d’aide mondiaux que plusieurs ONG ont lancé un appel pour amener les décideurs à agir contre la sous-nutrition maternelle et infantile. Nathalie Griesbeck est cosignataire.

Cet appel, lancé à l’occasion du sommet « Nutrition pour la croissance » du 8 juin, organisé en prélude du prochain sommet du G8, demande l’accélération de la lutte contre la sous-nutrition et la réduction du fossé entre les énormes besoins et le peu de moyens apportés. En effet, si la sous-nutrition est en cause dans 35% des cas de mortalité infantile, seuls 0,4% des fonds mondiaux d’aide au développement lui sont consacrés. Ainsi, seuls 10% des enfants en état de sous-nutrition reçoivent un traitement adéquat permettant de leur sauver la vie. Cet appel doit pousser à la mobilisation et encourager les gouvernements à investir davantage et de manière plus efficace dans les programmes de nutrition.

 

« Il est temps que cette lutte devienne une priorité », souligne Nathalie Griesbeck.

 

Retrouvez l’appel ci-dessous :

 

On the occasion of the “Nutrition for Growth” high-level event being organised on the 8th of June by theUKand Brazilian Governments ahead of the G8 Summit, we, Members of Parliaments from African and European countries involved in the fight against undernutrition:

–          Having regard to Article 11 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

–          Having regard to Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

–          Having regard to Paragraph 84 of the European Consensus on Development

–          Having regard to the Millennium Development Goals 1, 4, 5 and 7

–          Having regard to the resolution A65/11 of the 65^th World Health Assembly

Whereas:

1. 19,000 children die every day before their fifth birthday
2. Undernutrition is the underlying cause of 35% of these deaths
3. only 10% of wasted children have access to effective and lifesaving treatment
4. 165 million of children under five are stunted worldwide of which 90% are living in sub-Saharan Africa andAsia
5. Stunting causes irreversible damages to the development of the child if not prevented in the first 1000 days of life (from conception until the child’s 2nd birthday), permanently reducing their learning ability and potential for income.
6. The economic costs of undernutrition  represent a loss of 2 to 3% of GDP for affected countries, and is recognized as a major obstacle to development in the poorest countries, by perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty
7. Considering the many barriers for accessing health care and adequate nutrition including out of pocket payments, difficulty in accessing healthcare facilities, the lack of staff especially in rural areas,  the difficulty the poor have in accessing adequate food  and medicines needed to prevent and treat undernutrition  and its associated pathologies
8. Observing that specific interventions have been shown to be effective  in reducing child undernutrition in the long-term are known
9. Noting that nutrition specific interventions are inadequately funded with only 0.4% of global aid dedicated to nutrition and that longer term financing are desperately needed in order to complement emergency responses to ensure continuity of nutritional programming and reliability of longer-term funding
10. Considering the various statements, national action plans, documents and treaties at the regional and global levels making the fight against undernutrition a priority

We call on governments from the North and South to:

1. Make the fight against undernutrition a priority in national, European and global development policies, especially through its inclusion within the post-2015 development agenda
2. Scale-up the implementation of effective nutrition interventions through integration within relevant policies on global health and social protection in order to ensure that infants, young children and their mothers have adequate nutrition and care
3. Integrate the fight against undernutrition as an objective in the other sectors and policies (education, agriculture, social and health policies )  to treat and prevent the undernutrition  in the long-term
4. Promote, at the global level and in partner countries, a multi-stakeholder dialogue and coordination and harmonization between stakeholders for the definition, implementation and evaluation of policies to fight undernutrition 
5. Mobilize the budgetary and extra-budgetary resources needed for scaling up the implementation of these interventions and for the achievement of international commitments

 

We commit ourselves to:

1. Promote the place of nutrition when health, social protection, development and other relevant policies are defined
2. Evaluate programs and improve transparency and accountability of policies related to the fight against undernutrition
3. Create an enabling environment for nutrition through advocacy and awareness raising by our peers and the citizens from our regions and countries

 

Through this call, we intend to accelerate progress in the fight against undernutrition; to reduce effectively and sustainably the mortality, morbidity and inadequate growth and development related to this problem.