Save the Children Celebrates Final Passage of the Global Food Security Act to Fight Child Hunger and Malnutrition
Originally published on Save the Children US website.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 6, 2016) — Save the Children and Save the Children Action Network today celebrate the final passage of the bipartisan Global Food Security Act of 2016 (S.1252) by the House of Representatives. The bill is the result of years of dedicated bipartisan efforts by many global food security and nutrition champions, including Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA), and Chair Bob Corker (R-TN).
"Passage of the Global Food Security Act is a major victory toward breaking the intergenerational cycles of poverty for the millions of children affected by hunger and malnutrition worldwide," said Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children. "The bill rightly puts women and children at the center of development and positions nutrition as a critical bridge between agriculture and health."
"Every year, 5.9 million children die from preventable causes, nearly half of them due to malnutrition," said Mark Shriver, president of Save the Children Action Network. "This bill will change this by improving nutrition and food security. It will save the lives of millions of children around the world suffering from poverty, hunger and malnutrition."
Expected soon to be signed into law, the bill institutionalizes President Obama’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future, and ensures continued U.S. leadership in achieving the global goals to end poverty, global hunger and malnutrition, and preventable child and maternal deaths, by 2030.
The Global Food Security Act requires the President produce a whole-of-government Global Food Security Strategy with measurable goals and benchmarks, in consultation with 11 Federal agencies, by October 1, 2016. It also authorizes $1 billion to implement the Strategy and another nearly $2.8 billion to address the humanitarian food and other needs of refugees and others around the world impacted by crises and conflict.
"The focus of this bill on helping vulnerable populations and refugees closely aligns with Save the Children’s new global campaign — Every Last Child — that is aimed at tackling one of the greatest challenges our generation faces: ending preventable child deaths and making sure that we’re starting with those hardest to reach," said Miles.
The Act requires integrating the recently-released U.S. Government Global Nutrition Coordination Plan, which alongside the USAID Nutrition Strategy, provides a platform to accelerate progress in reducing child malnutrition and ending preventable child and maternal deaths.
"We have worked extremely hard over the last few years to see this bill come to fruition," said Shriver. "Now the real work begins to ensure it helps us fight poverty in a way that makes sure we reach every last child."
Save the Children gives children in the United States and around the world a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We invest in childhood — every day, in times of crisis and for our future. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Save the Children Action Network is the political voice for kids. We believe that every child deserves the best start in life. That’s why we’re building bipartisan will and voter support to make sure every child in the U.S. has access to high-quality early learning and that no mother or child around the globe dies from a preventable disease or illness. By investing in kids and holding leaders accountable, we are helping kids from birth to age five survive and thrive. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
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