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Clinton Explains U.S. New Approach against Poverty
- By Williams Ekanem
- Published May 24th, 2010
- Washington File
- Unrated
UNITED States Secretary of States, Hillary Clinton says the country is adopting a new approach to nutrition as a way of fighting poverty.
Delivering a keynote address at Care’s national conference and celebration in Washington D.C during the week, the Secretary of State said for the first time, the United States is focusing investments on that 1,000-day window.
According to Clinton, “We’re identifying millions of young children who need nutritional support and we’re sticking with them for a three-year period to give them a foundation to lead healthy lives. We’re also significantly scaling up our investments in research and development to discover what we hope will be path-breaking tools and technologies, ranging from new techniques for measuring under-nutrition to new supplements to new bio-fortified crops.”
Defining nutrition as a universal need for people of all ages, Clinton said the United States is focusing on women – the mothers, the farmers, the health workers, the community leaders whose insights and efforts can make the difference between a successful program and one that falls short.
The secretary of state added that the United States aim to reduce child under-nutrition by 30 percent in our partner countries, “and we know there’s not one-size-fits-all approach. Different communities face different challenges. In some places, the problem is a lack of affordable, diverse, protein-rich foods. In others, the key constraint may be chronic gastrointestinal disease caused by unsafe drinking water. In still others, people are switching from traditional diets to unfortified, processed foods – sounds familiar – with unhealthy results.”
To succeed, she disclosed, “We have to tailor our strategies to suit our partners’ specific needs and strengths. So we’re supporting nutrition education for farmers and parents so everyone knows the nutritional value of a diverse diet and mothers understand the benefits of good feeding practices during their child’s first two years.
Through the Feed the Future Initiative, we’re helping to strengthen agricultural systems to accomplish three things – increase the amount and diversity of food grown, improve markets so people have access to that food, and increase people’s income so they can afford to buy more and better quality food and put more of their daughters and sons in school, she stated.
All three outcomes, we believe, will help reduce under-nutrition, particularly if we ensure that the benefits reach women who are more likely to pass them on to their children. That’s a lesson we’ve learned in microfinance and in most programs – focus on women if you want lasting, measurable results.
Earlier in her welcome address, Helen Gayle, president and Ceo of CARE USA, said that as a global poverty-fighting organization with more than six decades of experience, CARE is well aware of the important role that thoughtful programming, effective U.S. policy, vocal advocacy and funding play in the fight against global poverty.
CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting poverty in 66 countries around the world.
Delivering a keynote address at Care’s national conference and celebration in Washington D.C during the week, the Secretary of State said for the first time, the United States is focusing investments on that 1,000-day window.
According to Clinton, “We’re identifying millions of young children who need nutritional support and we’re sticking with them for a three-year period to give them a foundation to lead healthy lives. We’re also significantly scaling up our investments in research and development to discover what we hope will be path-breaking tools and technologies, ranging from new techniques for measuring under-nutrition to new supplements to new bio-fortified crops.”
Defining nutrition as a universal need for people of all ages, Clinton said the United States is focusing on women – the mothers, the farmers, the health workers, the community leaders whose insights and efforts can make the difference between a successful program and one that falls short.
The secretary of state added that the United States aim to reduce child under-nutrition by 30 percent in our partner countries, “and we know there’s not one-size-fits-all approach. Different communities face different challenges. In some places, the problem is a lack of affordable, diverse, protein-rich foods. In others, the key constraint may be chronic gastrointestinal disease caused by unsafe drinking water. In still others, people are switching from traditional diets to unfortified, processed foods – sounds familiar – with unhealthy results.”
To succeed, she disclosed, “We have to tailor our strategies to suit our partners’ specific needs and strengths. So we’re supporting nutrition education for farmers and parents so everyone knows the nutritional value of a diverse diet and mothers understand the benefits of good feeding practices during their child’s first two years.
Through the Feed the Future Initiative, we’re helping to strengthen agricultural systems to accomplish three things – increase the amount and diversity of food grown, improve markets so people have access to that food, and increase people’s income so they can afford to buy more and better quality food and put more of their daughters and sons in school, she stated.
All three outcomes, we believe, will help reduce under-nutrition, particularly if we ensure that the benefits reach women who are more likely to pass them on to their children. That’s a lesson we’ve learned in microfinance and in most programs – focus on women if you want lasting, measurable results.
Earlier in her welcome address, Helen Gayle, president and Ceo of CARE USA, said that as a global poverty-fighting organization with more than six decades of experience, CARE is well aware of the important role that thoughtful programming, effective U.S. policy, vocal advocacy and funding play in the fight against global poverty.
CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting poverty in 66 countries around the world.
