Thought for World Food Day: increase funding, feed children

write letters to Congress urging it to make food and nutrition a priority for the world’s most vulnerable people. With global hunger on the rise for the third straight year, according to the United Nations, it’s urgent we do so. We need to increase funding for aid programs that fight deadly malnutrition.

Congress can make a real statement by voting in favor of H. Res. 189 and S. 260 and feeding the most vulnerable: children and mothers. As the resolution states “the potential benefit of good nutrition is lifelong and influences a child’s entire future, with entire communities and nations ultimately prospering.”

But right now millions of children worldwide are threatened by deadly malnutrition, including in Yemen, Syria, Somalia, South Sudan and Haiti. In Yemen, a civil war continues that has left more than 20 million people suffering from hunger. In Somalia, the impact of climate change has produced so many successive droughts that families are left with food shortages.

Turkey’s invasion of northeast Syria, following President Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. forces, is worsening the already existing humanitarian crisis after years of civil war. Save the Children warns “there are 1.65 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in this area, including more than 650,000 displaced by war.” More war will lead to more hunger for Syrian children. We need to end these conflicts and ensure food for all the starving children.

Children’s lives are at risk every day from malnutrition. How can we expect nations to have peace if entire generations are stunted by malnutrition?

Tragically the World Food Program, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, Action Against Hunger and other agencies are low on relief funds for so many emergencies. Lack of funding puts malnourished children at risk. It also prevents development projects that can help avert future disasters.

We should increase funding for nutrition programs so more kids in these countries can get Plumpy’nut and other lifesaving foods.

School meals also are vital to end hunger. Class attendance goes up and children are better educated. If the children grow up nourished, the next generation is likely to be healthier too. After World War II, school feeding saved the health of a whole generation in Germany, Japan and other countries. We know from our own country the importance of school lunch, breakfast and after-school programs supported by our local food banks.

We can help many countries today build national school lunch programs.

Congress can start by increasing funding for the Mcgovern-dole global school meals program. This initiative provides school meals in developing countries. Catholic Relief Services is running Mcgoverndole programs in Mali and Burkina Faso, African nations that have been impacted by conflict and drought. Mcgovern-dole supports WFP school feeding in Haiti.

Republicans and Democrats in the House recently circulated a letter calling for an increase in Mcgovern-dole funding to at least $235 million a year. The Senate should also back the extra funding.

Many more children could receive school meals if we increase the funding. As the House letter stated, “Each year, USDA receives scores of proposals for Mcgoverndole projects that remain unfunded, demonstrating the range of need that could be met were funds available.”

You can encourage members in Congress to support the nutrition resolutions and expanding food aid programs like Mcgovern-dole.

Food and nutrition are silent sounds of peace that we must bring to the whole world.