Gathering
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Rick Reinhard for Bread for the World
Mothers and Children.” The meeting—held during Bread’s
June 2011 National Gathering—laid a foundation for civil
societies to play an influential role in meeting the nutrition
challenge.
Through the 1,000 Days Partnership and the SUN Movement, maternal and child nutrition has taken a more prominent place in international development. In 2012, the World
Health Organization passed a resolution that included six
nutrition targets, including on stunting and wasting. The
2012 G8 summit and the Child Survival Call to Action included nutrition as a key component of new food security
and maternal and child health commitments.
In the lead up to the 2012 G8 summit, President Obama
delivered a major speech on global hunger and food security
An anti-hunger advocate prays during the opening plenary session of Bread
in which he said that the United States would continue to
for the World’s 2011 National Gathering. Bread’s 2013 National Gathering:
focus on maternal and child nutrition.
A Place at the Table,” June 8-11, will help move people of faith to action.
“What hasn’t happened,” said Lateef, “is a commensuBread for the World Institute’s international meeting on June 10 will focus
rate increase in resources. “It’s not expensive, and it’s such a
on next steps in improving maternal and child nutrition worldwide.
tremendous investment—why would we not do it?”
The next thousand-day period—ending with the Decem“1,000 Days: Change a Life, Change the Future” to draw attention to the dire effects of poor maternal and child nutri- ber 2015 deadline of the Millennium Development Goals—
tion. Each year more than 165 million children around the offers an opportunity to sustain and build on progress.
world live with the physical and cognitive effects of malnutri- Bread for the World Institute and Concern Worldwide are
joining with partner organizations to host another internation. Three million children die from it.
“Let today be the first of our own one thousand days,” tional meeting, “Sustaining Political Commitment to Scaling Up Nutrition,” on June 10, 2013. The
said Clinton, “one thousand days of foperspectives of the SUN countries will be
cused, concerted efforts to translate our “Providing nutrition to
particularly important in looking ahead
common knowledge and vision into cona malnourished baby is
to the next thousand days. Rajiv Shah,
crete action and then build momentum.”
Clinton’s announcement coincided sacred work, and we have a the administrator of the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) will
with the launch of the Scaling Up Nutri- chance together to provide
deliver a keynote address on U.S. leadertion (SUN) Movement, a global effort to nutrition to tens of millions
ship on maternal and child nutrition.
mobilize collective action on nutrition.
of malnourished babies.”
This meeting immediately follows the
“The focus on mothers is significant,”
– David Beckmann nutrition pledging conference hosted by
said Asma Lateef, director of Bread for
the U.K. government two days earlier.
the World Institute. “In many parts of
the world, women and girls are the last to eat—so when they Bread