Global donors invest as much each year on improving basic nutrition as the Swiss spend on chocolate. Yet financially-savvy Davos delegates should know that improving nutrition is one of the ‘best buys’ in development: for every $1 invested in nutrition you get $16 back in benefits.

As global leaders gather for the World Economic Forum – and enjoy the best of Swiss hospitality – they must look ahead to the major opportunities this year to invest in life-saving programmes for the world’s poorest.

Global nutrition and health are high on the agenda in 2016 with the second Nutrition for Growth summit in August and the Global Fund (for HIV, malaria and TB) replenishment conference in the autumn.

It’s time to spend more on building better lives than the Swiss do on chocolate.

Michael Elliott, CEO and President of ONE said:

“Funding for global nutrition is woefully inadequate compared to the size of the challenge, and the impact of this underfunding is felt most keenly by girls and women. Poverty is sexist, especially when it comes to nutrition.

“Anaemia impairs the health and wellbeing of over 528 million women globally. Improving nutrition to reduce anaemia would improve the productivity of women farmers, make it easier for girls to go to school, and save mothers who would otherwise die giving birth.

“Investing in girls and women lifts everyone out of poverty. The ONE Campaign calls on world leaders to prioritise investments in nutrition and global health, specifically those targeting girls and women.”

ONE is calling for world leaders to make 2016 a year to invest in nutrition, making sure that citizens can track this money and so hold leaders to account.

ONE’s put together some bite-size facts to illustrate the scale of the challenge.

ENDS

Bite-size facts on nutrition:

• Global donors invest as much on improving nutrition as the Swiss spend on chocolate every year (Association of Swiss Chocolate Manufacturers 2014)
• For the cost of two lattes (£5.95/$8.50) per child per year, we can reach global targets on stunting. (Source: WB 2015)
• The cost of the average Swiss watch is about 80 times the annual cost of bringing one child out of stunting. (Source: Economist)
• The percent of pregnant women with anemia in Africa (46.3%) is almost double that in Europe (25.8%). (Source: WHO 2015).
• 20% of all maternal deaths can be attributed to anemia alone. (Source: WHO)
• There are more women suffering from anaemia globally (over 528,000,000) than the entire population of the EU.
• In September 2015, world leaders agreed to the Global Goals, with Goal 5 focused on gender and the remaining 16 Goals with girls and women at their heart.

Notes:
ONE’s Michael Elliott and Roxanne Philson are available for comment from Davos. To arrange an interview please contact:
UK – Chris Mitchell on +44 (0) 7901 006 799 / 020 7434 6935 or email [email protected]
Europe – Andrea Ghianda on +32 (0) 471 89 64 22 or email [email protected]

About ONE
ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organisation of more than 7 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Not politically partisan, we raise public awareness and press political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency in poverty-fighting programmes. To learn more, go to ONE.org.