Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) World Food Day 2015, held on 16 October, will mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and that the theme for the day is 'Social protection and agriculture: breaking the cycle of rural poverty',

(ii) malnutrition contributes to 3 million of the 6 million deaths of children under age 5 each year,

(iii) in addition, 162 million children around the world suffer from stunting, which is an indicator of chronic under-nutrition, and affects the physical and mental development of children,

(iv) the estimated economic benefits of action to improve nutrition outweigh the additional costs by up to 18 to 1,

(v) Australia and other international donors invest less than 1 per cent of development assistance in specific nutrition investments, in spite of the toll of malnutrition, and

(vi) achieving Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals, 'End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture', will require increased investment in nutrition;

(b) recognises:

(i) the Australian Government has included nutrition as a priority investment in its Health for Development Strategy released in June 2015,

(ii) the next global Nutrition for Growth Summit, due to take place in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, is a significant opportunity for international donors, national governments and non-government partners to commit additional resources to reducing malnutrition, and

(iii) the Nutrition for Growth Summit provides an occasion for Australia to back its priority for nutrition to improve health outcomes with a commitment of additional resources; and

(c) calls on the Australian Government to ensure Australia has ministerial level representation and makes a commitment of new funding for nutrition at the Nutrition for Growth Summit in 2016.

Question agreed to.