- 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 65th World Health Assembly
Whereas:
- 19,000 children die every day before their fifth birthday
- Undernutrition is the underlying cause of 35% of these deaths
- only 10% of wasted children have access to effective and lifesaving treatment
- 165 million of children under five are stunted worldwide of which 90% are living in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- Observing that specific interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing child undernutrition in the long-term are known
- 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
- 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:
- Make the fight against undernutrition a priority in national, European and global development policies, especially through its inclusion within the post-2015 development agenda
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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:
- Promote the place of nutrition when health, social protection, development and other relevant policies are defined
- Evaluate programs and improve transparency and accountability of policies related to the fight against undernutrition
- 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.
Signatories:
– Eric Alauzet, French MP
– Sonia Alfano, MEP
– Michèle André, French Senator
– Sophie Auconie, MEP
– Catherine Bearder, MEP
– Phil Bennion, MEP
– Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, MEP
– Jean-Luc Benhamias, MEP
– Franco Bonnanini, MEP
– Philippe Boulland, MEP
– Valérie Boyer, French MP
– Serge Bardy, French MP
– Christian Busoi, MEP
– Colette Capdevielle, French MP
– Martine Carillon-Couvreur, French MP
– Fanélie Carrey-Conte, French MP
– Yvon Collin, French Senator
– Rachida Dati, MEP
– Marielle De Sarnez, MEP
– Jean-Pierre Decool, French MP
– Guy Delcourt, French MP
– Françoise Descamps-Crosnier, French MP
– Jean-Louis Destans, French MP
– Sophie Dessus, French MP
– Yves Detraigne, French Senator
– Ismail Ertug, MEP
– Hervé Gaymard, French MP
– Charles Goerens, MEP
– Sylvie Goulard, MEP
– Nathalie Griesbeck, MEP
– Françoise Grossetête, MEP
– Chantal Guittet, French MP
– Fiona Hall, MEP
– Marian Harkin, MEP
– Antoine Herth, French MP
– Françoise Imbert, French MP
– Régis Juanico, French MP
– Rodi Kratsa, MEP
– Isabelle Le Callenec, French MP
– Anne-Yvonne Le Dain, French MP
– Bruno Le Maire, French MP
– François Loncle, French MP
– Gilles Lurton, French MP
– Jean-René Marsac, French MP
– Louis Michel, MEP
– Christian Paul, French MP
– Jackie Pierre, French Senator
– Philippe Plisson, French MP
– Maurice Ponga, MEP
– Jean-Luc Reitzer, French MP
– Frédérique Ries, MEP
– Jean Roatta, MEP
– Robert Rochefort, MEP
– Gwendal Rouillard, French MP
– Paul Rubig, MEP
– Tokia Saïfi, MEP
– André Schneider, French MP
– Bakari Seidou, Member of Parliament of Niger
– Julia Sommaruga, French MP
– Michèle Striffler, MEP
– Claudiu Ciprian Tanasescu, MEP
– Jean-Marie Tétart, French MP
– Patrice Tirolien, MEP
– Ivo Vajgl, MEP
– Henri Weber, MEP
– Glenis Willmott, MEP
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