A 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.

III 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. RES. 260 Recognizing the importance of sustained United States leadership to accel- erating 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 lead- ership to accelerating global progress against maternal and child malnutrition and supporting the commitment of the United States Agency for International Develop- VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\SR260.ATS SR260 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 SRES 260 ATS ment 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 im- paired 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 undernutri- tion, contributes to 1 in 5 maternal deaths, or 20 percent of maternal mortality; Whereas poor maternal nutrition contributes to poor fetal de- velopment 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 im- proved breastfeeding practices on the short-term and long-term health and development of children and their mothers; VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR260.ATS SR260 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 SRES 260 ATS 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 great- er 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 malnour- ished as children; (2) countries with a very high burden of early mal- nutrition 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 identi- fied improving child nutrition as the most cost-effective way to improve global health outcomes and enhance de- velopment; 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR260.ATS SR260 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 SRES 260 ATS by addressing the direct and underlying causes of mal- nutrition; Whereas the linkage between humanitarian assistance and development programming under the USAID Multi-Sec- toral Nutrition Strategy helps build resilience to shocks and stresses in vulnerable communities, promotes greater self-reliance, and is essential to reducing long-term reli- ance upon other forms of United States foreign assist- ance; 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 coun- tries 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 under- nutrition 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 nu- trition targets set for 2025: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) recognizes that— 2 (A) malnutrition is a universal issue that 3 no country can afford to overlook; 4 (B) food security and good nutrition in 5 early childhood saves lives and lays the founda- 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR260.ATS SR260 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 SRES 260 ATS tion for healthy physical and cognitive growth 1 and development; and 2 (C) the potential life-long health and eco- 3 nomic benefits of early childhood nutrition in- 4 fluence the future of individual children and 5 families, as well as entire communities and 6 countries; 7 (2) acknowledges that effective programs to re- 8 duce malnutrition are not only lifesaving, but also 9 critical to the success of United States foreign as- 10 sistance programs to improve global health, end pre- 11 ventable child and maternal death, achieve an AIDS- 12 free generation, reach starving children during an 13 emergency, strengthen food security, and accelerate 14 inclusive economic growth; 15 (3) affirms that it is in the national interest of 16 the United States to help developing countries build 17 their own capacity to reduce malnutrition, address 18 the direct and indirect causes of malnutrition, and 19 meet the nutritional needs of women and children; 20 (4) recognizes the effectiveness of the Multi- 21 Sectoral Nutrition Strategy of USAID, the U.S. 22 Government Global Nutrition Coordination Plan, 23 and the U.S. Government Global Food Security 24 Strategy to address the direct and indirect causes of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR260.ATS SR260 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 SRES 260 ATS malnutrition and reach, by 2025, the global nutri- 1 tion targets agreed to at the World Health Assembly 2 in 2012; 3 (5) supports the goals and principles of the 4 Scaling Up Nutrition movement to end global mal- 5 nutrition through— 6 (A) greater collaboration between govern- 7 ments, civil society, international organizations, 8 donors, the private sector, and researchers on 9 multi-sectoral approaches; 10 (B) cost-effective and inclusive approaches; 11 and 12 (C) improved transparency and account- 13 ability for results; 14 (6) recognizes the significant progress made in 15 the fight against global malnutrition, 16 (7) recommends accelerating improvements to 17 the systems affecting the health and nutritional sta- 18 tus of women and children through innovative, 19 scaled-up approaches; 20 (8) applauds the efforts of USAID to integrate 21 effective nutrition programming across relevant de- 22 velopment sectors; and 23 (9) calls for additional transformative efforts 24 across relevant sectors at USAID to accelerate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR260.ATS SR260 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 SRES 260 ATS progress toward ending maternal and child malnutri- 1 tion, including through— 2 (A) country development cooperation strat- 3 egies that align with national nutrition plans; 4 and 5 (B) improved and clear methods to track 6 nutrition funding and outcomes across all global 7 nutrition programs of the United States Gov- 8 ernment, especially those relating to— 9 (i) global health; 10 (ii) food security; 11 (iii) agricultural development; 12 (iv) basic education; 13 (v) food assistance; and 14 (vi) water, sanitation, and hygiene 15 (also known as ‘‘WASH’’). 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR260.ATS SR260 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS