Women and children wait for food at a refugee camp in eastern Africa. Photo: Christoph Pueschner/ACT-DKH
This is a cross-posting of a blog called standupfighthunger.tumblr.com written by our Deputy Director, Head of Programs, Maurice A. Bloem.
New York – The announcement by Mayor Rahm Emanuel that Chicago will host a May 21 summit on the issue of child malnutrition in the U.S. and throughout the world is good news.
If no other reason than to put a spotlight on these hard facts:
- Every year, malnutrition kills some 3.5 million children, while as many as 10 times that number have to live with the effects of hunger and poor nutrition.
- If left unchecked, poor nutrition early in life can cause problems later on. I’ve said this many times, but it bears repeating: the first 1,000 days of life – from conception to roughly a child’s second birthday – are critical. If a child is malnourished during this time, often irreversible damage takes place.
These are among the reasons Church World Service will be participating in the Chicago summit and why we continue to put a spotlight on the problem of childhood hunger a problem that afflicts an estimated 350 million youngsters.
We’ll take any opportunity we can to affirm that hunger can be overcome if we have the political will to do something about it.
Sometimes I am asked why CWS is focusing new efforts fighting malnutrition and hunger as part of our future strategy we call CWS 2020.
By way of example, let’s go back to last week, when we announced that we are responding to the food crisis in the West African region of the Sahel through our partner and fellow ACT Alliance member Christian Aid, which is providing food to those most in need and treating malnourished children in Burkina Faso.
Christian Aid also is initiating cash-for-work programs in Mali where the most vulnerable receive seeds and prepare their land to withstand drought. CWS-supported programs by Christian Aid will also focus on a response in Niger and Senegal.
A comprehensive CWS appeal will be issued in the coming weeks, which will include more details of the response.
An estimated 12 million people concentrated primarily in the West African region of the Sahel are facing a serious food crisis and the possibility of imminent famine is looming. The governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Niger have already declared states of emergency and called for international assistance.
“There is a sense of despair because people literally don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” said my colleague and friend, Paul Valentine, the international director of Christian Aid, who was in Burkina Faso recently.
“We are currently at the beginning of the hot summer period (March–June) and [food] reserves are already depleted. Most families eat just once a day and wild seeds and fruits make up for the shortfall on grains. These coping strategies may not be extendable into the summer as there is too little to go around,” Paul told me.
Organizations like Christian Aid and CWS must “think big” and act out of a sense of real urgency. When I skyped with Paul last week, he told me: “The crisis is real, Maurice!”.
That’s the rub: the crisis is real, and must be addressed.
Let’s not be mistaken, of course. While the combined efforts of agencies like CWS in 2011 greatly improved the food security situation in the Horn of Africa – parts of which experienced famine – there is still great need in that region.
My boss, the Rev. John L. McCullough, CWS CEO and executive director, said recently: “The crisis in the Horn of Africa is far from over. Nearly 10 million people are still in need of food assistance in the region, with thousands of children suffering from malnutrition. And forecasts are predicting inadequate spring rains.”
As part of our long commitment to food security in the region, CWS is providing multi-micronutrient powder supplements for the first time for malnourished small children in two extremely poor districts in Kenya that have experienced severe drought and crop failures.
These efforts are all part of the bigger picture – based on a vision of a better life for all, whether children live in Kenya or Chicago.
“Nothing is more important to a child’s future health and success,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel, “than those first 1,000 days of life.”
I agree with him.
Maurice A. Bloem, is CWS deputy director, head of programs.