At the Nutrition for Growth Summit, yesterday in Tokyo, the Commission announced a new pledge of €2.5 billion for 2021-2024 to reduce all forms of malnutrition. This contribution covers humanitarian assistance to address urgent needs as well as support to tackle the underlying causes of malnutrition, including a longer-term food systems transformation in EU partner countries.

This vital assistance will be directed to support partner countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, prioritising nutrition in their cooperation with the EU. The EU will fund actions in nutrition-relevant sectors including agriculture, water, sanitation and hygiene, social protection, health, education, to help improve nutrition outcomes with a focus on women, adolescent girls and children under five.

The Commission has been working in partnerships with EU Member States, through joint programming such as in Laos or to scale up nutrition investments by leveraging co-financing. The EU will seek to increase its impact by working with a Team Europe approach.

EU humanitarian funding will help to provide life-saving and needs-based assistance, supporting the most vulnerable in crises such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Ethiopia and the Sahel.

The EU invests in support for inclusive food systems that encompass the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. This forms part of the EU's broader framework of the Farm to Fork strategy under the EU Green Deal, and as laid out in the Action Plan on Nutrition.

With the initiative National Information Platforms for Nutrition, the EU supports partner countries to strengthen national governance based on evidence to prevent malnutrition and its consequences. The EU is pledging at least €2.5 billion (€1.4 billion for development and €1.1 billion for humanitarian aid) for international cooperation with a nutrition objective in the period 2021-2024.

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