🌍🍎 Nutrition for Growth Summit

• The debate focused on the upcoming Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris, emphasizing the UK’s role and commitment to global nutrition.

• David Mundell highlighted the importance of nutrition for development, health, education, gender equality, and economic advancement. He stressed the need for the UK to make a strong, ambitious, and well-targeted commitment at the summit.

• The UK’s history of leadership in global nutrition was acknowledged, including founding the Nutrition for Growth summit in 2013 and making significant pledges in past summits.

• Concerns were raised about recent cuts to the UK’s official development assistance (ODA) budget, which have disproportionately affected nutrition spending. There was a call for the government to reverse these cuts and maintain its commitment to global nutrition.

• Steve Race and other MPs emphasized the critical timing of the summit, given the rising global malnutrition rates, and urged the UK to play a leadership role. They highlighted successful UK-funded interventions in countries like Kenya and Afghanistan.

• The importance of integrating nutrition across all aspects of development was discussed, with calls for specific pledges and commitments to nutrition-specific interventions.

• MPs from various parties expressed support for increasing the UK’s contribution to the child nutrition fund and leveraging domestic and philanthropic resources to maximize impact.

• The debate also touched on the broader implications of malnutrition, including its links to conflict, migration, and global security. The need for a holistic approach to address the triple burden of malnutrition, obesity, and vitamin deficiency was emphasized.

• The Minister of State, Stephen Doughty, confirmed that the UK would be represented at the summit by Baroness Chapman and reiterated the government’s commitment to spending £1.5 billion on nutrition objectives by 2030.

• While unable to announce a new financial pledge due to the ongoing spending review, the Minister highlighted the UK’s initiative to launch a global compact on nutrition integration at the summit, aiming to enhance the impact of nutrition policies and investments.

• The debate concluded with a call for continued UK leadership and action on global nutrition, emphasizing the importance of maintaining expert capacity and public support for development initiatives.

The parliamentary session on the Nutrition for Growth Summit demonstrated a high level of consensus and cooperation among the participants. The primary focus was on urging the UK government to commit to combating global malnutrition and to maintain leadership in this area. Despite the differences in political affiliations, the speakers consistently advocated for increased investment and emphasized the importance of nutrition in global development.

Examples of disagreements are scarce. The closest instances to any form of disagreement were the concerns expressed about the reduction in the UK’s official development assistance (ODA) budget, which was a source of worry but did not manifest as overt disagreement among the speakers. Instead, it was presented more as a shared concern about how budget cuts could affect the UK’s efforts and leadership in global nutrition.

• Edward Morello (West Dorset) (LD) expressed strong concern about the cuts to the ODA budget, highlighting how these reductions could undermine the UK’s ability to maintain its leadership in global nutrition and development. He also criticized the government’s decision to reduce aid spending.
• Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD) expressed disappointment about the lack of new financial commitments from the UK government at the summit and highlighted the moral and strategic implications of the ODA budget cuts.
• Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con) sought clarifications on the UK’s ongoing and future commitments, especially in light of the ODA budget cuts, but did so in a manner that sought confirmation rather than confrontation.

However, these concerns were not presented in an adversarial manner; instead, they were part of a broader call for continued commitment and action. The Minister of State, Stephen Doughty (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), responded positively to these concerns, affirming the government’s commitment to nutrition despite the budget constraints and emphasizing the new global compact on nutrition integration.

Overall, the session maintained a constructive tone with a unified call for action, which supports the rating of 1 for minimal disagreement displayed in the session.