The Hindu : New Delhi News : Call to fight hunger and malnutrition in Asia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 20, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Call to fight hunger and malnutrition in Asia

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19. The `Delhi Declaration' on Maternal and Child Nutrition in Asia, adopted at the end of the three-day regional ministerial consultation here calls for `renewed and intensified determination to significantly reduce hunger and malnutrition in Asia in the coming decade', with the participants committing themselves to work for enhanced regional cooperation.

"Malnutrition represents both a human tragedy and an economic calamity. It is unacceptable in a region that has the knowledge, expertise and resources to bring all forms of hunger to an end," the representatives of Asian countries present at the adoption of the declaration said, adding that they recognised that access to adequate and safe food, education, health and optimal nutrition was every individuals right.

Calling upon the United Nations, national government, non-governmental organisations and private-sector partners to focus on real change and support nutrition interventions in the region, the declaration points out that solving nutritional problems required political commitment and additional efforts and resources targeted at poor people. "Goals set up by our Governments and the international community will not be reached as long as Asia suffers malnutrition. We recognise that governments have the prime responsibility to protect and promote the nutritional well-being of its people, especially among vulnerable groups. Such efforts, however, need to be supported by the international community with resources and technical assistance," the declaration says.

The Delhi Declaration says that progress had been hampered by cultural dimensions including the continuation of social, economic and gender disparities; discriminatory practices and law; by economic and political instability and many countries inadequate budgetary allocations for health, education and social services targeted to the vulnerable. "Nutrition must be an integrated component of national poverty reduction strategy. An integrated and comprehensive approach is required to ensure a combination of food, health and educational intervention, meaning that hunger and malnutrition have to be at the forefront of poverty reduction initiatives and investments," it says.

Addressing the gathering, the Union Human Resources Minister, Arjun Singh, said the objective of reducing malnutrition had to be central to poverty reduction strategies and providing nutrition security to everyone had to be central to the design of national policies. There is an urgent need for an integrated and comprehensive approach to nutrition security through food, health and education interventions, he said.

Pointing out that adopting effective policies and interventions, despite financial constraints and limited institutional capacity, has been a challenge for most governments in the past, Mr. Singh said that economic growth does not automatically lead to human development and nutrition security. The most effective way of ensuring equitable distribution of the economic growth of a country was through adopting and implementing policies that ensure equitable nutrition and health for all, he said.

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