IRELAND WILL devote €2 million of its €31.3 million aid budget for Tanzania to nutrition this year as part of a joint initiative with the US which aims to tackle under-nutrition in developing countries.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore announced the measure during a meeting with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam yesterday.
In September last year, then minister for foreign affairs Micheál Martin and Mrs Clinton launched the 1,000 Days Initiative at UN headquarters in New York.
Both Ireland and the US have adopted the fight against hunger and malnutrition as a key element of foreign policy. In his public speech in Dublin last month, US president Barack Obama praised Ireland’s efforts in this area, saying: “A people who once knew the pain of an empty stomach now feed those who hunger abroad.”
Mr Gilmore told attendees at yesterday’s meeting, which included Tanzanian, US, and Irish officials as well as aid agency representatives, that “hunger has a deep resonance with the Irish people given our famine experience”. This, he said, had shaped the “values and principles that are embedded in our development programmes”. Under-nutrition causes more than 3½ million child deaths each year. Some 200 million children worldwide suffer from chronic malnutrition, and in many countries, half of all children are stunted.
Mrs Clinton yesterday explained the impetus behind the joint initiative launched last September, which is rooted in scientific research showing that the 1,000 days between pregnancy and two years of age are critical to a child’s cognitive, intellectual and physical development.
“A healthy 1,000 days changes the course of a child’s life, and I would argue, also significantly benefits communities and countries, because healthy children who get off to a good start will be more productive members of the workforce,” she said.
“Good nutrition in those first 1,000 days lays the foundation for health, development and even prosperity for the next generation.” The initiative is linked with the Scaling Up Nutrition programme, which aims to increase nutrition assistance on a country-by-country basis.
Tanzania’s prime minister, Mizengo Pinda, yesterday outlined the steps his government has taken to tackle under-nutrition in the country.
Mr Gilmore said Tanzania had made “admirable progress” towards achieving its vision of producing enough food to feed its people. “Ireland will continue to support this vision of self-sufficiency, and efforts to take this policy to the next level by ensuring as balanced and nutritious a diet as possible for Tanzania’s people,” he said.
“Nutrition will be a central thread in the new country strategy that will guide Ireland’s partnership with Tanzania for the next five years.”