Oxfam reaction to the “1000 Days to Improve Child Nutrition” MDG Summit side event

Oxfam reaction to the “1000 Days to Improve Child Nutrition” MDG Summit side event, co-hosted by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Micheal Martin, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister:

The US, Ireland and European Commission today said there should be an annual review meeting at the UN each year on this initiative, and that they would commit to being held individually to account.

Oxfam spokesperson Chris Leather said: “Today’s announcement sets a strong example to other governments that they should be ready to stand up each year between now and the 2015 deadline and explain what they have done to end extreme poverty."

"Leaders meeting at this summit must give their Ministers meeting in Rome next month the green light to deliver a global plan to end hunger and malnutrition. This can only be done by scaling up agriculture, social protection and nutrition programs. Nutrition programs are an essential part of achieving the hunger and other goals, but alone they are not enough. It's disappointing that this poverty Summit has not done more to pledge support to small-scale farmers and social protection for poor people."

“$12bn per year is needed to get children under two the nutrition they need to survive and thrive, and now we need to hear from both rich and developing country governments about how they are going to find this lifesaving money.”

Read more

Oxfam's Rescue Package for the Millennium Development Goals

Join Oxfam's Health & Education For All Campaign