WASHINGTON, April 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bread for the World praised a new global framework of action to reduce malnutrition, which causes the deaths of 3 million mothers and young children in developing countries each year.

Participants at a high-level nutrition roundtable held during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington, DC, last weekend, announced Scaling up Nutrition: A Framework for Action (www.inffoundation.org/publications/policy-brief.htm). The initiative focuses on pregnant women and children under age 2, prioritizing cost-effective and proven interventions to fight malnutrition. Suggested actions include promoting breast-feeding, distributing fortified foods to mothers and infants, and providing treatment to severely undernourished children. Finance ministers, senior government officials, heads of development agencies, and representatives of civil society organizations all endorsed the initiative.

"For the first time ever, we have consensus among all the official aid agencies involved in nutrition and among many civil society organizations on the best strategy to reduce malnutrition among children and their mothers," said Bread for the World President David Beckmann at the meeting. "That provides a solid, politically attractive basis for action."

Bread for the World participated in meetings and consultations that led to the development of this new framework, which is endorsed by more than 80 multilateral, bilateral, academic, and civil society agencies and institutions that are active in the nutrition and development field.

"For too long, nutrition has been separated from agricultural practices and food policy. We must strive to make fortified foods more available and step up proven ways to change women's and young infants' feeding and caring behavior where needed, through community-based programs," said  Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The World Bank released a new video during the meeting, called Investing in Nutrition: Let's Grow Together (www.youtube.com/watch?v=yysyFtjcgzE), which highlights the new framework for action.

Bread for the World (www.bread.org) is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.

SOURCE Bread for the World

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