[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 260 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 260
Recognizing the importance of sustained United States leadership to
accelerating global progress against maternal and child malnutrition
and supporting the commitment of the United States Agency for
International Development to reducing global malnutrition through the
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2019
Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Schumer, Mr.
Young, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Casey, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Reed, Mr.
Cramer, Ms. Warren, Mr. Moran, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Brown, Mr.
Gardner, Mr. Markey, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr.
Cardin, Ms. Smith, Mr. Wyden, Mr. King, Mr. Jones, Mr. Merkley, Ms.
Klobuchar, Mr. Peters, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Wicker, Mrs.
Feinstein, Mrs. Capito, Ms. Rosen, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr.
Hawley, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Braun, Mr. Warner, and Mrs. Shaheen) submitted
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Foreign Relations
December 18, 2019
Reported by Mr. Risch, with an amendment and an amendment to the
preamble and an amendment to the title
January 14, 2020
Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble and an
amendment to the title
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the importance of sustained United States leadership to
accelerating global progress against maternal and child malnutrition
and supporting the commitment of the United States Agency for
International Development to reducing global malnutrition through the
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy.
Whereas of all children under 5 worldwide--
(1) 149,000,000, or 21.9 percent, are stunted or chronically
undernourished;
(2) an estimated 7.3 percent, or nearly 49,000,000, experience life-
threatening acute malnutrition (also known as ``wasting''); and
(3) more than 40,000,000 are overweight;
Whereas, in countries highly affected by undernutrition, stunting affects 1 in
every 3 children;
Whereas malnutrition directly or indirectly causes 45 percent of all deaths of
children under 5 years of age, a total of 2,600,000 deaths annually;
Whereas undernourished adolescent girls often suffer impaired cognitive ability
and productivity, and the future children of those girls are at
increased risk for low birth weight and death;
Whereas iron deficiency anemia, associated with undernutrition, contributes to 1
in 5 maternal deaths, or 20 percent of maternal mortality;
Whereas poor maternal nutrition contributes to poor fetal development and low
birth weight, and an estimated 60 to 80 percent of neonatal deaths occur
in low-birth-weight babies;
Whereas a large body of evidence supports the benefits of improved breastfeeding
practices on the short-term and long-term health and development of
children and their mothers;
Whereas a growing body of evidence indicates that reducing maternal and child
malnutrition, especially in the critical 1,000-day period between the
beginning of pregnancy and the second birthday of the child, is
imperative to--
(1) ending preventable child and maternal deaths;
(2) improving IQ, and physical, brain and cognitive development; and
(3) strengthening the immune systems of children;
Whereas combatting malnutrition is an economic issue, as well as a global health
issue, that is central to reducing poverty and putting communities on a
path toward greater self-reliance and economic growth;
Whereas research indicates that--
(1) adults who were well nourished as children earn up to 46 percent
more than adults who were malnourished as children;
(2) countries with a very high burden of early malnutrition have lower
economic growth rates resulting from lost income and productivity; and
(3) the cost of child malnutrition is substantial, with estimated
losses in Gross Domestic Product of 3 to 16 percent and potential impacts
to the global economy as high as $3,500,000,000 per year;
Whereas leading economists and Nobel Laureates have identified improving child
nutrition as the most cost-effective way to improve global health
outcomes and enhance development;
Whereas the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy of the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) recognizes that it is in the national
interest of the United States to help developing countries reduce
malnutrition by addressing the direct and underlying causes of
malnutrition;
Whereas the linkage between humanitarian assistance and development programming
under the USAID Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy helps build resilience
to shocks and stresses in vulnerable communities, promotes greater self-
reliance, and is essential to reducing long-term reliance upon other
forms of United States foreign assistance;
Whereas, in addition to providing bilateral support, the United States plays a
leading role in supporting the goals of Scaling Up Nutrition, a global
movement of 60 countries to prioritize nutrition through effective
policy and dedicated national resources, particularly during the 1,000-
day window of opportunity between the beginning of pregnancy and the
second birthday of the child; and
Whereas, despite the significant progress in reducing undernutrition since 1990,
global progress has been too slow--
(1) to ensure that undernutrition no longer inhibits a child's ability
to attain a full and prosperous future; and
(2) for the global community to reach the global nutrition targets set
for 2025: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes that--
(A) malnutrition is a universal issue that no
country can afford to overlook;
(B) food security and good nutrition in early
childhood saves lives and lays the foundation for
healthy physical and cognitive growth and development;
and
(C) the potential life-long health and economic
benefits of early childhood nutrition influence the
future of individual children and families, as well as
entire communities and countries;
(2) acknowledges that effective programs to reduce
malnutrition are not only lifesaving, but also critical to the
success of United States foreign assistance programs to improve
global health, end preventable child and maternal death,
achieve an AIDS-free generation, reach starving children during
an emergency, strengthen food security, and accelerate
inclusive economic growth;
(3) affirms that it is in the national interest of the
United States to help developing countries build their own
capacity to reduce malnutrition, address the direct and
indirect causes of malnutrition, and meet the nutritional needs
of women and children;
(4) recognizes the effectiveness of the Multi-Sectoral
Nutrition Strategy of USAID, the U.S. Government Global
Nutrition Coordination Plan, and the U.S. Government Global
Food Security Strategy to address the direct and indirect
causes of malnutrition and reach, by 2025, the global nutrition
targets agreed to at the World Health Assembly in 2012;
(5) supports the goals and principles of the Scaling Up
Nutrition movement to end global malnutrition through--
(A) greater collaboration between governments,
civil society, international organizations, donors, the
private sector, and researchers on multi-sectoral
approaches;
(B) cost-effective and inclusive approaches; and
(C) improved transparency and accountability for
results;
(6) recognizes the significant progress made in the fight
against global malnutrition,
(7) recommends accelerating improvements to the systems
affecting the health and nutritional status of women and
children through innovative, scaled-up approaches;
(8) applauds the efforts of USAID to integrate effective
nutrition programming across relevant development sectors; and
(9) calls for additional transformative efforts across
relevant sectors at USAID to accelerate progress toward ending
maternal and child malnutrition, including through--
(A) country development cooperation strategies that
align with national nutrition plans; and
(B) improved and clear methods to track nutrition
funding and outcomes across all global nutrition
programs of the United States Government, especially
those relating to--
(i) global health;
(ii) food security;
(iii) agricultural development;
(iv) basic education;
(v) food assistance; and
(vi) water, sanitation, and hygiene (also
known as ``WASH'').
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