Launch of the Global Compact on Nutrition Integration: Baroness Chapman’s speech - March 26

Baroness Chapman gave a speech at the launch of a new Global Compact on Nutrition Integration on the eve of the Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris.

"Welcome everyone. Thank you to our co-hosts – the Government of Nigeria, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Bank, and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, and thank you to the Government of France for bringing us together.

It is great to see such a diverse group of people gathered here – from Gavi and the Green Climate Fund, to private sector investors, philanthropy, and civil society networks, to countries deeply affected by malnutrition, including members of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement.

I know that for some of you this is your life's work. And as the UK's Minister for International Development, and for Latin America and Caribbean, it is a pleasure to welcome you all on the eve of the fourth Nutrition for Growth Summit, and to share a few reflections before we hear from you.

Thanks in no small part to many of you – the work we have done together over many decades has shown that we can make a difference. Lives changed and lives saved.

This agenda can serve as an example of how coming together, being more than the sum of our parts, can help us maximise our impact.

Now, before going into more detail about our collective work on nutrition, I want to address something head on. I know many of you will have seen our announcement about our ODA budget in recent weeks –  as the UK responds to the world as it is now – less stable, more insecure.

It was a decision we neither relish, nor take lightly. But I hope my presence here, the work of our dedicated experts, and our continued efforts on this important agenda, demonstrates the UK will never turn its back on the world – or on international development. Far from it.

How we work has to change, but I promise, what we all care about is not. The task for all of us now is to make sure we secure the reforms we need to meet the challenges and opportunities of our times.

That includes making the case for development anew. And thinking afresh about the kind of genuine, respectful, modern partnerships we pursue, and the commitment, energy and expertise we bring to forums like this – not just how much public money we have to spend.

And as we work through the difficult choices before us now, my focus is on making sure this new reality gives even greater impetus to modernising the UK's approach to international development. That is already underway. And it is how we maximise the impact of every pound of public money we are able to put in – and our collective impact.

So let me talk about our impact.

Over a decade after the world came together in the UK for the first of these important summits, the UK has helped to improve the nutrition of over 50 million women and children – from Nigeria, to Pakistan, Bangladesh, and beyond.

That spans everything from getting micronutrient supplements, specialist support, and therapeutic foods to treat malnutrition in women and children, to helping farmers grow more nutritious foods like vegetables and legumes, to improve the diets of their families and communities.

I talked a moment ago about the importance of working in partnership – we need to learn from our successes. Partnerships like the Child Nutrition Fund. Alongside UNICEF, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, and the Gates Foundation, we are aiming to prevent, detect, and treat malnutrition for 70 million women and 230 million children in 23 countries, from Afghanistan, to DRC, Malawi, Madagascar, Somalia, and South Sudan.

At the end of last year, a new partnership with the World Food Programme, World Health Organisation, and UNICEF got underway – focused on preventing the most horrible and deadliest form of malnutrition, child wasting.

It's a dreadful and shameful phrase to even say – and we must keep our minds on that, as we stand here together in these wonderful surroundings, to reaffirm all our commitments and initiatives.

Commitments like those we made at the last summit in Tokyo 4 years ago, on integrating nutrition across everything we do, from climate to health – such as developing nutritious crops that help us address a lack of key nutrients. So that the 2 billion people who don't get the nutrition they need can have a healthier life.

It means working with Gavi, the Government of Ethiopia, and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation to reach vulnerable mothers and children with life-saving immunisation and nutrition.

And, when it comes to nutrition, we all know what is at stake in every country in the world. Combating malnutrition is vital for a healthy population and healthy economies – malnutrition translates into a loss of 10% of GDP for countries most affected. It's a good investment – every pound, euro or dollar we invest pays for itself 23 times over.

We know how to make our work even more effective. Invest in science. Go for solutions supported by the evidence. Put nutrition at the heart of everything we do – from health, to water, hygiene, and sanitation, food systems, social protection, and our wider resilience.

So, this evening, it's fantastic we have all come together to launch the Global Compact on Nutrition Integration.

Tomorrow, we convene a new coalition of signatories. And I am looking forward to hearing from some of you this evening, about your commitment to this vital cause.

As we learn from each other, challenge each other, push each other to do more, and keep going – not just at summits like this where we all get together. That is how we maximise the impact we can achieve.

So, thank you all once again for being here."