With a concerted, coordinated global effort, the tide can be turned against global hunger and malnutrition. But as new conflicts and the effects of climate change aggravate food insecurity, world leaders must make progress on four fronts.
LONDON – In London on November 20, the United Kingdom will host the Global Food Security Summit and launch a new strategy for international development. Despite pressing crises like the conflict in Gaza, we must stay focused on other parts of the global system, where ongoing crises of hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity demand an urgent response. Faced with immense suffering around the world, we need a UK government that is willing and able to offer solutions.
The organizations we lead – the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and the International Rescue Committee – are resolutely committed to protecting vulnerable children and families wherever they are. In Gaza, the IRC has set out detailed proposals for a humanitarian ceasefire to save the lives of Palestinian civilians and increase urgent access to food, while CIFF is helping to lead the charge on issues like child wasting. We each have a clear stake in the success of the summit (which CIFF has helped organize) and the government’s new strategy for international development.
The global hunger crisis has become critical. Around 345 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity this year – more than double the number in 2020 – and 45 million children under five suffer from acute malnutrition. Up to two million of those children die every year, and climate change and violent conflict are making the problem even worse.
LONDON – In London on November 20, the United Kingdom will host the Global Food Security Summit and launch a new strategy for international development. Despite pressing crises like the conflict in Gaza, we must stay focused on other parts of the global system, where ongoing crises of hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity demand an urgent response. Faced with immense suffering around the world, we need a UK government that is willing and able to offer solutions.
The organizations we lead – the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and the International Rescue Committee – are resolutely committed to protecting vulnerable children and families wherever they are. In Gaza, the IRC has set out detailed proposals for a humanitarian ceasefire to save the lives of Palestinian civilians and increase urgent access to food, while CIFF is helping to lead the charge on issues like child wasting. We each have a clear stake in the success of the summit (which CIFF has helped organize) and the government’s new strategy for international development.
The global hunger crisis has become critical. Around 345 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity this year – more than double the number in 2020 – and 45 million children under five suffer from acute malnutrition. Up to two million of those children die every year, and climate change and violent conflict are making the problem even worse.