Ireland shows leadership in the fight against hunger at the Nutrition for Growth Summit

Press release9 December 2021

Francoise Kakuji selling her vegetables at the central market of the town of Manono, Tanganyika Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Products grown on rural farmland as part of Concern Worldwide’s Food for Peace programme are often sold at this market. Photo: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham/Concern Worldwide

Ireland’s global leadership in the fight against hunger was evident and evidenced throughout the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit, which concluded yesterday in Tokyo.

Concern’s CEO Dominic MacSorley warmly welcomed the Irish Government’s commitments to significantly scale up investment in nutrition programmes and interventions, to support innovative programming approaches for the prevention and treatment of wasting, and to provide technical and financial assistance to partner countries for the implementation of sustainable food systems pathways.

“Ireland’s commitments at this year’s N4G Summit reflects a country that is truly a global leader in the fight against hunger. In the face of climate change, conflict and the worst consequences of COVID – at a time when famine threatens the lives of 45 million in 43 countries - such leadership is as critical as it is necessary,” Mr MacSorley said.

Concern Worldwide also announced its pledges at the Summit, building on earlier commitments made in 2013 and delivered since then. Speaking at the high-level event Mr MacSorley was blunt: “Starvation should demand outrage – and yet there is too much silence and not enough action. This is the motivation behind Concern’s current ‘Nothing Kills Like Hunger’ campaign: to break the silence, to raise the awareness and to stimulate public support for the fight against hunger.”

Commitments

Mr MacSorley confirmed Concern’s commitments by 2025:

To help five million extremely poor people across 20 countries achieve sustainable livelihoods and improved food and nutrition security;
To support governments and key stakeholders in at least 10 countries, to reach 250,000 children, by strengthening health system resilience to deliver nutrition services at scale during and after shocks, including further development and expansion of the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) “Surge” approach (a mechanism to support front line clinics to respond to spikes in acute malnutrition);
To step up its engagement in, and support of, the Scaling Up Nutrition civil society network and the Food Security and Nutrition Clusters.

The absence of a financial pledge by the UK government was “very disappointing to say the least” Mr MacSorley said, given its previous leadership on the issue of nutrition. In contrast, Ireland’s leadership was noted and notable alongside the EU and the US whose financial and policy pledges were warmly welcomed.

For more information see :

N4G Summit website: https://nutritionforgrowth.org/events/

Nothing Kills Like Hunger: https://www.concern.net/nothing-kills-like-hunger/hunger-and-conflict

For media queries contact Eamon Timmins, Media Relations Manager, Concern Worldwide, at eamon.timmins@concern.net or 087 9880524