Millions of lives around the world are blighted by malnutrition. Around half of all under-five deaths are linked to malnutrition, and undernourished children have reduced educational and employment prospects, holding back the economic development of communities and countries.
Since 2013, the UK has played a big role in the global fight against malnutrition, helping to establish the ‘Nutrition for Growth’ (‘N4G’) agenda, which raised $23 billion over 7 years for nutrition programmes, increasing nutrition spending worldwide by 33%. But the money pledged in 2013 is insufficient to meet global nutrition targets and new resources will be needed.
The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) has a strong record of funding nutrition programmes. In addition, as a major donor to the World Bank – one of the world’s biggest funders of international development – the UK has a lot of influence on investment decisions, potentially unlocking additional millions for investing in nutrition programmes. This month, we are asking you to write to the UK’s representative at the World Bank, to influence spending policy and priorities that will be discussed in June.