In coming days Germany will host leaders from leading G7 democracies to discuss a shared approach to tackling some of the greatest global challenges.

In the leadup to the G7 summit, Gabriella Waaijman, Save the Children’s Global Humanitarian Director, said:

“The world is facing the biggest global hunger catastrophe of the 21st century. For the first time in decades, child hunger and malnutrition is on the rise, with millions of families struggling to provide their children with enough nutritious food. The Ukraine crisis has compounded the ongoing global hunger crises, causing scarcity and driving up prices. Famine is on the wind across the Horn of Africa and services designed to treat malnourished children are struggling to keep up with demand. The time for deliberations has passed. People are dying now.

“We urge the G7, as a key part of its food security response, to also tackle global malnutrition, urgently and ambitiously. A central part of this should be the creation of an Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security, and an accompanying commitment of an immediate, substantive, multi-billion USD$ package of support – to help the world’s most vulnerable newborns, children and women survive this crisis.

“Currently, the G7 has proposed the creation of an Alliance for Food Security, which fails to recognise the crucial role nutrition has in keeping people – particularly children and women – alive and healthy.

“We welcome efforts to prioritise food security and to mobilise funding to tackle growing hunger, but traditional food aid does not suffice to bring severely malnourished children back from the brink. Nor will it stem the rising tide of malnutrition that is reversing decades of development gains and putting children’s and especially girl’s education, health and protection (and future livelihoods) at risk.”