22/02/2017 House of Lords


22/02/2017

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 22/02/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

That is the end of business in the House of Commons. We will no be

:00:00.:00:13.

going over to the House of Lords. In a world where we will not be able to

:00:14.:00:22.

join forces not necessarily any coherent way. A lot of our aid goes

:00:23.:00:30.

through our relationship with the EU. What consideration has been

:00:31.:00:39.

given to the changing attitude of the new administration in the United

:00:40.:00:48.

States of America with regard to aid and the institutions of the United

:00:49.:00:53.

Nations? I think these are things that we need to think about. I too

:00:54.:01:01.

would like to thank her for would like to thank her for

:01:02.:01:09.

initiating this debate. It follows on from the questions earlier today.

:01:10.:01:25.

There is a consensus on the 0.7%. The reason for this consensus is

:01:26.:01:33.

very practical. It allows the United Kingdom to support long-term

:01:34.:01:35.

sustainable projects which really make a difference to the lives of

:01:36.:01:41.

the clueless people on the planet. Our commitment to improve the new

:01:42.:01:46.

nutrition of 50 million people is a good example of that. I would like

:01:47.:01:54.

the Prime Minister to be a great thing about this in the newspapers.

:01:55.:01:59.

It is these issues we need to focus on. I appreciate her for initiating

:02:00.:02:13.

this debate. Good nutrition, as we appear, is the foundation for

:02:14.:02:19.

sustainable development. Building health and resilience. 12 of the

:02:20.:02:30.

countries -- indicators highlighted by the United Nations are key to

:02:31.:02:38.

nutrition. Nutrition interventions promote economic development. It

:02:39.:02:48.

every $1 invested sees $16 returned an investment.

:02:49.:02:56.

That is the key message we should be putting into the media to respond to

:02:57.:03:03.

some of the ridiculous arguments that have been made. Countries lose

:03:04.:03:11.

at least 10% of their GDP because of malnutrition. It stagnates

:03:12.:03:17.

personnel, societal and national development, that is why it is so

:03:18.:03:22.

key to progress. As we have heard for women and girls were often the

:03:23.:03:28.

most vulnerable to undernutrition, nutrition interventions are crucial

:03:29.:03:31.

to support their full development potential. When you think of this

:03:32.:03:41.

specific goal to end Hunter, a chief said security and improve nutrition

:03:42.:03:48.

and target 22 that by 2030, end all forms of malnutrition and achieving

:03:49.:03:56.

by 2025 international targets on wasting in children under five years

:03:57.:04:02.

of age and address nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and

:04:03.:04:10.

lactating women and older women. Older women are particularly

:04:11.:04:16.

vulnerable to malnutrition and attempts to provide them with

:04:17.:04:21.

adequate nutrition encounter many practical problems. The problems are

:04:22.:04:27.

not well defined, ageing effects, nutrient needs, some needs increase

:04:28.:04:34.

while others decrease. Good nutritional status reduces maternal

:04:35.:04:41.

deaths. It improves school outcomes and contributes to delete manage and

:04:42.:04:49.

pregnancy. It saves lives. Improving potential and promoting progress

:04:50.:04:51.

alongside intergenerational health and prosperity. The own strip -- the

:04:52.:04:59.

onset of menstruation in girls results in a much higher demand of

:05:00.:05:03.

nutrients. When they do not receive the nutrients it can reach -- B2

:05:04.:05:09.

anaemia, cause fatigue, dizziness and weight loss and reduced

:05:10.:05:16.

immunity. Impact on maternal health is irrefutable. Micronutrients and

:05:17.:05:25.

lack of energy during pregnancy can cause complications and

:05:26.:05:32.

haemorrhages. Nutritional deficiencies can also contribute to

:05:33.:05:39.

foetal birth defects and or newborn mortality. Improving nutrition

:05:40.:05:44.

alongside good antenatal care can improve these numbers dramatically.

:05:45.:05:47.

There is no doubt about that. Good nutrition is crucial to unlocking

:05:48.:05:54.

the potential of women and girls across the life-cycle and giving

:05:55.:05:57.

them the best opportunities to become active members of their

:05:58.:06:03.

community. As my noble friend highlighted, around half of the

:06:04.:06:09.

deaths can be attributed to underlying malnutrition.

:06:10.:06:11.

Malnourished children are nine times more likely to die of common

:06:12.:06:16.

childhood infections such as pneumonia and diarrhoea. It is key

:06:17.:06:23.

to changing the prospects of many and in low income countries, 37.6%

:06:24.:06:30.

of children under five are stunted. These children are likely to grow

:06:31.:06:35.

into stunted adolescence. Stunted adolescent girls faced a higher risk

:06:36.:06:42.

of pregnancy related complications and one of the leading causes of

:06:43.:06:46.

death among the demographic. Over 2 billion people suffer from Micro

:06:47.:06:52.

nutrition deficiencies, anaemia often the result of iron

:06:53.:06:57.

deficiencies affects 500 million women of reproductive age and is

:06:58.:07:01.

responsible for nearly 20% of maternal deaths in 21 countries out

:07:02.:07:09.

of 41 with anaemia prevalent, more than one third of adolescent girls

:07:10.:07:15.

are anaemic. Undernutrition has devastating impact on physical and

:07:16.:07:21.

development potential of girls. Malnourished adolescents go on to

:07:22.:07:25.

lose and then 10% of their lifetime earnings as adults, affecting the

:07:26.:07:31.

economic development of these countries which is so vital if we

:07:32.:07:35.

are to change and challenge poverty in our world. As my noble friend and

:07:36.:07:45.

Baroness mentor said, we can be proud of the United Kingdom leading

:07:46.:07:51.

role in the world in the fight against malnutrition. This

:07:52.:08:01.

commitment was renewed in the recent bilateral development review and we

:08:02.:08:07.

spoke about that in this chamber. Following on from the 2013, UK

:08:08.:08:16.

hosted the inaugural nutrition for growth conference in London and met

:08:17.:08:24.

financial commitments. 655 million for a nutrition specific

:08:25.:08:29.

interventions and 604,000,004 interventions until 2020. As the

:08:30.:08:36.

noble lady said, the government as part of its manifesto pledge in

:08:37.:08:44.

2015, pledged to improve the nutrition of 50 million children

:08:45.:08:52.

under five and adolescent girls in developing countries by 2020.

:08:53.:08:59.

Despite this, despite these commitments, the world is not on

:09:00.:09:04.

track to reach the 2025 global nutrition targets. These are the

:09:05.:09:12.

issues that we need fundamentally to address. I welcome DFID plans to

:09:13.:09:19.

improve nutrition, their target by 2020 but I urge them to commit the

:09:20.:09:31.

government to invest a further 530 after 2020. I think DFID should

:09:32.:09:36.

rapidly disburses 2013 commitments to nutrition and increase its

:09:37.:09:41.

commitment to nutrition because it is that key to development. I think

:09:42.:09:49.

?513 million of new money should be invested between 2016 and 2020

:09:50.:09:54.

because good nutrition, as we know, has a significant impact on

:09:55.:09:59.

improving women's economic development as well as their health.

:10:00.:10:04.

What is needed is an integrated approach which delivers nutrition as

:10:05.:10:10.

part of a package of wider health interventions and improves the value

:10:11.:10:16.

for money of health investments. I hope that the Minister will support

:10:17.:10:23.

the scaling up of nutrition specific interventions to tackle all forms of

:10:24.:10:29.

malnutrition and the integration of these interventions into the design

:10:30.:10:35.

and delivery of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and

:10:36.:10:38.

adolescent health and other health programmes. In 2015, the government

:10:39.:10:45.

made a commitment to leave no one behind in its development programme.

:10:46.:10:52.

DFID should ensure that nutrition, is targeted and improved for the

:10:53.:10:57.

most vulnerable and hardest to reach. Does the noble Lord agree

:10:58.:11:03.

that to do this DFID should produce disaggregated data for prioritising

:11:04.:11:08.

investments with a focus on high birth, irrespective of all middle

:11:09.:11:15.

income status and allocate resources to strengthen nutrition and national

:11:16.:11:22.

information systems to ensure we have that proper and adequate data?

:11:23.:11:33.

Can I join other noble Lords in paying tribute to my noble friend

:11:34.:11:39.

for securing this debate. It is something which I know is dear to

:11:40.:11:43.

our heart. She has devoted her professional life to this and she is

:11:44.:11:48.

bringing her professional experience in to your lordship's has. I know

:11:49.:11:54.

that her convening of the round table before Christmas was a very

:11:55.:11:59.

helpful exchange of views for different officials who attended in

:12:00.:12:04.

shaping our policy in relation to this. I also thank Lady Thornton for

:12:05.:12:14.

her comments for her thoughtful contribution and other contributions

:12:15.:12:18.

from the Labour benches. They rightly point out that nutrition is

:12:19.:12:25.

the building block upon all other developments that we see. It is

:12:26.:12:33.

crucially important as an issue, not only in sustainable development

:12:34.:12:36.

goals but also in being recognised as a women's issue as we lead up to

:12:37.:12:46.

the international day of women. Just as an aside in that regard, I hope

:12:47.:12:51.

that the House will bear with me, I was disappointed we have not heard

:12:52.:12:55.

from the Liberal Democrat benches. There is no one here from there.

:12:56.:13:00.

Normally I would not make reference to that but because I have had

:13:01.:13:06.

reference to extra information as to why that might be the case, I do

:13:07.:13:11.

want to put on record this is an important issue and we should be

:13:12.:13:16.

able to focus on an issue which is central to development and make sure

:13:17.:13:20.

our voices are heard. Malnutrition still affects one in three people

:13:21.:13:25.

globally. It is holding back the growth and development of people and

:13:26.:13:29.

countries. Women affected by undernutrition are more likely to

:13:30.:13:34.

give birth to small babies, will be disadvantaged throughout their

:13:35.:13:37.

lives. Undernourished children are more likely to die

:13:38.:14:02.

young. They account for 45% of under five deaths. Children have or

:14:03.:14:06.

lifetime earnings and are more likely to have undernourished

:14:07.:14:07.

children themselves. The economic consequences represent a loss to GDP

:14:08.:14:10.

of 10% year-on-year whereas every pound spent has an estimated return

:14:11.:14:12.

in increased incomes and economic growth. Therefore tackling malamute

:14:13.:14:16.

tradition is crucial to reaching 1012 global goals, eradicating

:14:17.:14:20.

disease, empowering, all which will only happen if their free from mild

:14:21.:14:26.

patrician. A healthy and prosperous stable world is less likely whilst

:14:27.:14:31.

malnutrition persists. Nutrition is a long-term development challenge

:14:32.:14:35.

but is also an immediate humanitarian challenge. In 2017, the

:14:36.:14:43.

world is facing humanitarian needs, with one famine in south Sudan to

:14:44.:14:47.

clear to date and a response from this government to that but also a

:14:48.:14:52.

call to arms for the international community to respond much more

:14:53.:14:58.

effectively and urgently to the challenge already inside Zidane and

:14:59.:15:04.

just around the corner in Somalia. And we believe in north-east Nigeria

:15:05.:15:09.

and Yemen. The international community must get much more there

:15:10.:15:14.

at the forefront of these issues but as the noble Lord said, we can be

:15:15.:15:20.

proud of the fact that the UK is leading in this year and we support

:15:21.:15:30.

the remarks of the Secretary of State to the international community

:15:31.:15:34.

made today. UK aid Underground is saving lives and we call on

:15:35.:15:38.

international community to step up their support. The longer we wait,

:15:39.:15:42.

the higher the price humanity will have to pay. For all these reasons,

:15:43.:15:46.

improving nutrition of women and girls is a top priority all

:15:47.:15:52.

developing countries. For these reasons, I nutrition for growth

:15:53.:15:56.

Summit which my colleagues referred to in 2013, that we held and pledged

:15:57.:16:07.

programmes to back it is for these reasons in 2015 that the government

:16:08.:16:13.

committed to the nutrition of 50 million people, women, girls and

:16:14.:16:18.

children by 2020 globally. Deliver late -- delivering this result will

:16:19.:16:23.

be the priority for DFID. I'm pleased to say we are on track to

:16:24.:16:29.

that. That is thanks to the work we're doing to scale up Newt --

:16:30.:16:33.

nutrition across the 20 priority countries that we have. We are far

:16:34.:16:40.

from complacent in the coming months. The Secretary of State will

:16:41.:16:44.

be launching a new UK position paper on nutrition which will set out

:16:45.:16:49.

further accelerated and intensified action. The noble Lord invited me to

:16:50.:16:55.

see more about what the financial resource behind that might be. He

:16:56.:17:01.

will have to be, like me, patient to see that coming forward but I hope

:17:02.:17:07.

it will be something that there is cross-party support on. Our new

:17:08.:17:11.

approach will be built on the latest evidence which shows clearly that is

:17:12.:17:16.

a basic package of things that need to be done to most effectively

:17:17.:17:20.

tackle malnutrition which includes that a and zinc supplements for

:17:21.:17:26.

children. Maternal micronutrient supplements, breast-feeding

:17:27.:17:34.

promotion, education and around complimentary feeding and specific

:17:35.:17:38.

management of acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening form of

:17:39.:17:43.

malnutrition. The emphasis is on focusing on girls and boys under

:17:44.:17:47.

five years as this is where malnutrition has the biggest impact

:17:48.:17:52.

on children's future potential and can be the most easily prevented. It

:17:53.:17:58.

is increasingly clear that for maximum impact we need to focus on

:17:59.:18:06.

adolescent girls, both for their own benefit and to prevent malnutrition

:18:07.:18:11.

in future generations. We need to ensure that the wider portfolio,

:18:12.:18:20.

Bute health, water or agriculture programmes are addressing

:18:21.:18:22.

malnutrition at the same time as hitting other objectives.

:18:23.:18:35.

Subtitles continue later this evening.

:18:36.:18:42.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS