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Ending child hungerand undernutritioninitiative(ECHUI)

Overview (updated)

UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition

Annual Meeting, Rome, 27 February 2007

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• to end child hunger and undernutrition within a generation;

• to mobilise attention on the causes and known solutions of child hunger.

• to focus the world’s attention, will and resources on what is needed.

Global partnership…

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Global problem

852 m undernourished people worldwide400 m undernourished children < 18149 m underweight children < 5 5-6 m preventable U5 deaths per year,

(where undernutrition is a key factor) 85 m families in need

(countries where U5 underweight ≥ 10%)

* Approximations and estimates, sources: FAO, WFP, WHO/UNICEF, WFP/UNICEF

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South Asia(53%)

East Asia / Pacific (15%)

West / Central Africa (12%)

Middle East, North Africa (11%)

Latin America & Caribbean(3%) Eastern / Southern Africa (6%)

Global distribution

73% of the world’s underweight children live in just 10 countries

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Dramatic improvements are possible:

• Between 1960 and 2004, Chile cut its underweight rate from 37% to 2.4%

• Thailand reduced malnutrition rates from 36% to 13% in the 15 years to 1990

• Brazil decreased its child undernutrition by 67% between 1970 and 2000

• Malnutrition in India has declined by about 30% since 1960

• Between 1980 and 1990, Tanzania reduced reduce child malnutrition from 50% to 30%

Common factor: national leadership, focus on nutrition

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Millennium Development Goal 1

2. Hunger Target: Halve, by 2015, the

proportion of people who suffer from hunger

4. Prevalence of underweight children under 5

5. Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy

consumption

TWO TARGETS

FIVE INDICATORS

1. Proportion of population living below

$US1

2. Poverty gap ratio

3. Share of poorest quintile in national

consumption

1. Poverty Target: Halve, by 2015, the proportion

of people on income of less than $US1 a day

Key impact indicator of

Initiative

MDGs and ECHUI targets

• MDG-1, Target 2, Indicator 4 - halve the 1990 prevalence of underweight children by 2015

• Five other MDGs – education, health, child mortality, gender and HIV/AIDS – depend on achievement on the MDG-1 Hunger Target

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What will the partnership do?

• Raise awareness of CHU and known solutions

• Support country-level policies and systems to dramatically reduce CHU

• Mobilise the political, financial, technical resources required to reduce CHU

• Promote effective packages of interventions

• Promote greater consensus on solutions

• Bring greater cohesion across all initiatives for child nutrition

• Focus on measurable results and learning.

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Three strategic approaches

1. Partnerships: Create and strengthen global partnerships on CHU

2. Operations: Support national capacity to scale-up and deliver evidence-based solutions

3. Advocacy: Promote effective, integrated policies and programmes.

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Six interventions to address child hunger*

1. Health, nutrition & hygiene education (incl. exclusive breastfeeding)

2. Household food security Homestead food production cash transfers Supplementary Feeding

3. Micronutrient supplementation

4. Hand washing with soap

5. Household water treatment

6. Parasite control (esp. deworming)

* evidence-based, cost-effective, suited to ‘bundle’ and scale up

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One voice: one message

Activities of ECHUI partners at all levels will be aligned to “speak with one voice” and to deliver “one message”, viz:

ECHUI’s six key evidence-based, cost-effective and scalable interventions should be “bundled” to achieve the maximum impact in the most-affected areas.

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Global coordination

Steering CommitteePartners Group*

Secretariat

• oversight and broad direction • resources Secretariat• currently, includes WFP,

UNICEF and Chair and Vice Chairs of Partners Group

• global-level partnership forum for international actors, donors, civil society, private sector, technical, scientific and academic actors

• high level advocacy, strategic guidance

• monitors results

• supports Partners Group• consists of personnel from WFP,

UNICEF and others

*Inaugural Chair: High Commissioner for Refugees.

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Regional Strategy: Sahel Alliance (Feb ‘07)

• Coordinated effort to “scale up” ECHUI in the Sahel

• Triple threat: “Unacceptably high rates of malnutrition, mortality and food insecurity”

• UN Country Teams: UN Res Coord + WFP CD + UNICEF CR + FAO

+ WHO Regional Officials

• Working through UNDAFs, PRSPs and Govt.

• Regional Response ↔ National Action Plans

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Niger: Prevalence of wasting (children 6-59 mo)

10.1%

15.1%

0

5

10

15

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2005 2006

33% decreasep < .05

* Both surveys conducted in Sep-Oct

Niger: Prevalence of stunting (children 6-59 mo)

43.8%50.1%

0

35

70

2005 2006

13% decreasep < .05

Regional progress: Sahel Alliance (Feb ‘07)

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Country level action plans

Governments, UN, private sector, IFIs, donors, NGOs and national institutions all partnering to:

analyse the problem and identify intervention requirements

identify gaps, obstacles to progress help develop Government plan to fill gaps connect global partners with relevant technical

& other resources support more effective policy responses build partnerships to harmonise and scale-up needed

interventions

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1. Map areas of high undernutrition

2. Identify potential outreach partners

3. Strengthen linkages between outreach partners and support organisations

4. Connect and leverage complementary interventions to the same geographic/ demographic focus areas

Community level operations

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Costing a typical package

$79 per family

• Estimated average annual costs.

• Global costing model to be further refined

• Country-specific costing required

* Note that “one size does not fit all” and must be adjusted and targeted to

specific country needs.

InterventionUS

$

1. Health, nutrition & hygiene education

6

2. Household food security (average)

50

3. Micronutrient supplementation

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4. Household water treatment 4

5. Hand-washing with soap 6

6. Deworming 2

Household Total $7

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What will it cost if we do nothing?

• Economic and social consequences of approx 45 million preventable child deaths by 2015 (at today’s rate of attrition)

• approx. 2 to 3 percent of GDP lost annually to undernutrition in high prevalence countries*

• $500 billion to $1 trillion in lost productivity and income over the lifetime of today’s undernourished children*

• Prospect of achieving other MDGs reduced.

• *Sources: UN Standing Committee on Nutrition, World Bank, FAO

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• Save the Children (UK and US)

• World Vision International • World Vision US• Caritas International• EuronAid (consortium of 39

European NGOs)

• Action Aid • Oxfam• World Economic Forum• Unilever• TNT

ECHUI: Interested partners

• Boston Consulting Group• Centres for Disease Control• George Washington University• The Lancet• UN System Standing

Committee on Nutrition (SCN)• Archbishop of Canterbury• Gates Foundation• Rockefeller Foundation • UNHCR, FAO, IFAD, WHO, • WFP, UNICEF