The U.K. government has made no financial pledges to the Nutrition for Growth Summit in Japan, despite playing a key historic role galvanizing international action on malnutrition as the first country to host the event.
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Critics said the decision, which comes after a year of aid budget cuts, signaled “the end of a decade of British global leadership in nutrition.” The U.K.-hosted 2013 event paved the way to the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition, from 2016 to 2025.
“The United Kingdom is committed to ending the preventable deaths of mothers, newborn babies, and children by 2030, and nutrition has a huge role to play,” Wendy Morton, minister at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, told the summit in a prerecorded video.
Morton described malnutrition as “a triple headed monster” which contributes to anemia, obesity related to diseases, and child and maternal deaths.
But Morton stopped short of announcing a funding pledge, instead committing to a technicality on improving aid spending rules. “The U.K. is committing to improving nutrition for women, girls and children by 2030, and we will hold ourselves to account by adopting the OECD DAC policy marker on nutrition across our U.K. aid portfolio.”
Why does it matter? The lack of a financial pledge is being seen as another step backwards for the U.K. as a development leader.
"We are hugely disappointed with the UK government's lack of commitment at the Tokyo N4G Summit. This was an opportunity to demonstrate 'Global Britain' in action, to show that Britain is a country that cares and recognizes that in the 21st century no child should be malnourished. This sadly signals the end of a decade of British global leadership in nutrition,” said Simon Bishop, CEO of The Power of Nutrition.