World Vision comment on Gates Foundation report to be released at G20

CANNES, France, 2 November 2011 — A great deal of the discussion about development leading up to the G20 Summit has been focused on innovation in financing and programming. While we appreciate the great work the Gates Foundation has done to bring needed attention and investment to food security and maternal and child health, what we need most is for the G20 countries to spend the money they promised to spend.

There is no doubt that innovation will improve our ability to meet global poverty reduction commitments, but innovative financing would make more sense if the G20 were already doing their part.

Through the L’Aquila process for food security, several countries — some of which are G20 countries — have committed $22 billion and only about a quarter of that money has been spent so far. They’ve promised more for health through the Muskoka Initiative and the UN’s fund for Every Woman Every Child.

• 44 percent of the world’s stunted children live within the borders of the G20 countries. We think the G20 leaders should focus on solving their child health and nutrition problems as well.
• Spending $11.8 billion a year in already-promised funding on Scaling up Nutrition would save 1.1 million children and prevent stunting in 150 million children.
• 5 of the 10 most cost effective development interventions are nutrition interventions aimed at the first 1,000 days of a child’s life: micronutrient supplements for children (vitamin A and zinc), micronutrient fortification (iron and salt iodization), biofortification of crops, deworming and other nutrition programs at school and community-based nutrition and breastfeeding promotion.

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