Food Aid: Children

Lynne Featherstone
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to encourage other bilateral and multilateral donors to provide funding for tackling child hunger and malnutrition.

Mr. Thomas
At the core of DFID’s mission is a commitment to support developing countries to realise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Action on child hunger and malnutrition is reflected in the first goal. Much current bilateral and multilateral aid will impact positively on child nutrition, investment in education, primary health care, water and sanitation, job creation, and rural livelihoods. DFID multilateral contributions in 2005-06 which impact positively on child nutrition include contributions to the UN Development Programme (UNDP)—£52.7 million, UNICEF—£32.4 million, World Food Programme—£5 million, and to the Food and Agricultural Organisation—£4.8 million.

DFID strongly encourages other donors to fulfil the commitments made at Gleneagles and the UN Millennium summit to provide more aid to achieve the MDGs, including MDG 1 (which includes child hunger and malnutrition).

DFID will issue a new health strategy in June. Part of this strategy will be to carry out a policy review on our approach to child malnutrition.