MSF Pressures G20 to Reform Food Aid

Food aid delivered in Somalia. Photo couresty Word Food Programme, CC 3.0.

by BEDOUR ALAGRAA for The Toronto Globalist

This years G-20 summit has been mired in controversy – from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s security budget, to the G-20’s de facto freezing of Toronto’s downtown core, this summit in particular has drawn vehement opposition. Civil society groups and NGO’s have used the scrutiny attached to the G-20 summit to highlight their causes and hold the G-20 nations responsible for what they feel are policies that ignore the worlds most vulnerable individuals. With this year’s focus on Maternal and Child Health, the G-20 nations were faced with the burdensome task of mitigating maternal deaths and child malnutrition. Bedour Alagraa recently caught up with MSF’s (Medecins Sans Frontiers) regional director Marilyn McHeard at their press conference on June 23rd to get the scoop on their new child malnutrition and food aid reform initiative.

TG: Child Malnutrition is a complex issue. For those of us that aren’t well read on the topic – what are the main causes of child malnutrition?

Marilyn McHeard: Child malnutrition is a complex issue. There are many causes; from natural disaster, conflict, to food embargoes and government policies. What we want to highlight is that maternal health is integral in fighting child malnutrition – healthy mothers give birth to healthy children. Comprehensive food aid packages help to keep mothers and children healthy.

TG: There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Prime Minister Harper’s Maternal Health policies. With most of the discussion focusing on sexual and reproductive health, what can we do to shift the conversation away from that topic and towards basic health needs such as malnutrition?

Marylin McHeard: I don’t think it’s so much a question of shifting the conversation. Sexual and reproductive health are an important part of maternal and child health, and that part of the issue can’t be ignored. What we want to do is diversify the discussion to include more issues such as malnutrition, and to show how these issues are really connected. When women have difficult or unmonitored pregnancies or unskilled abortions, the women may suffer from infections or other health problems. Proper nutrition helps to fight infection and makes the treatment process much easier.

“Maternal health is integral in fighting child malnutrition – healthy mothers give birth to healthy children”

TG: MSF’s International President Christophe Fournier spoke about the “double standard of food aid” – that we’re sending food that we would never feed our own children to those most in need of basic nutrition. Do you believe this double standard is rooted in donor privilege or is it a result of a sincere lack of funds in providing higher quality food.

Marilyn McHeard: I do believe there is a double standard. We’re sending food aid packages that consist of food we would never feed our own, healthy children. The fact that children in Sub-saharan Africa are particularly vulnerable makes the double standard worse – they need more specific nutritional attention, not less. I also believe it has to do with how new the field of nutritional science is. These statistics have only been emerging recently, and responding to them is a large task.

TG: MSF has suggested a broader structural approach to addressing malnutrition – one that includes a financial transaction levy in order to provide a stable source of funding for international health initiatives amidst the volatility of international markets. What do you think it will take for countries to adopt such a bold policy?

Marilyn McHeard: An international financial levy would be effective – it would provide sustainable funding for comprehensive food aid. However, it may be a long time before something like that happens. In the meantime, we want to place pressure on governments to change their existing policies and create a more holistic food aid approach.

TG: Critics of the G8 and G20 summits have mentioned the lack of diversity in the talks – that key experts and organizations such as MSF, have been left out of the discussions. Do you think that MSF and other organizations will ever have a seat at “the table”?

Marilyn McHeard: We’re not really interested in obtaining a particular seat at the table. I don’t think that’s MSF role – we’re more interested in providing sound evidence and expertise to governments, who can then use their own populations an systems to make change. We’re more interested in using existing government processes to create changes in policy, and we use our expertise and knowledge as a way of doing just that.

TG: You mentioned earlier the need for comprehensive food packages, both preventative and curative. Can you clarify the difference between the two.

Marilyn McHeard: If you introduce breastfeeding and proper breastfeeding techniques to mothers within the first three months of a child’s, and add it a complementary diet, then you’re effectively preventing malnutrition. Also, if you help to promote good hygiene, and the importance of good hygiene in overall health, then you’re also preventing poor health. The preventative package consists more of information than food itself. If someone is already suffering from malnutrition, in combination with the preventative packages, the curative packages are introduced in the form of food aid.

TG: What will it take for governments to make child malnutrition a priority in their foreign policy agendas? Is it going to take another Southern Ethiopia? How can we get it to the top of the list?

Marilyn McHeard: I think what needs to be clarified is that providing food aid is not enough. I think that by showing governments that providing high quality food in addition to basic foods puts them in a position to really address child malnutrition. I really feel that will make the difference – we feed our children well here in Canada, why wouldn’t we do everything we could to feed children elsewhere in similar capacity?

TG: Where can our readers access more literature and information about child malnutrition?

Marylin McHeard: Our website is a great source of information. We have lots of links that give some background on child malnutrition, and those links will connect you to other literature as well.

* For more information, visit www.msf.ca