UK Aid: Nutrition-sensitive Programmes

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Monday 13th January 2020 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Collins of Highbury]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of UK Aid’s nutrition-sensitive programmes, and what steps they are taking to ensure that high-impact nutrition sensitivity is embedded across UK Aid’s portfolio.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, DfID reviews and assesses programming on an annual basis and, since hosting the 2013 Nutrition for Growth summit, we have exceeded our commitment to invest in nutrition-sensitive programmes. Where possible, we integrate nutrition objectives into our work on health, social protection, climate adaptation and agriculture, all of which is essential for tackling the underlying causes of malnutrition. We will continue to work to embed high-impact nutrition sensitivity across UK aid’s portfolio.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for that response and certainly welcome the Government’s actions since 2013. I declare an interest as vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on nutrition. The OECD policy marker on nutrition provides an opportunity to better capture the impact of DfID’s nutrition-sensitive programmes. Although approved, it has not been incorporated into DfID’s reporting systems. Can the Minister ensure that this is done, to improve accountability and outcomes for both nutrition and DfID’s wider objectives?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, the UK has been a proud global leader on nutrition since hosting the summit in 2013. Since 2015 we have reached more than 60 million women, adolescent girls and young children with nutrition services in 25 countries. The noble Lord is right to point out the advantage of the new OECD policy marker. Indeed, the UK worked with donors and other Governments to develop the guidance for that marker and supported its adoption at the OECD. The new marker gives a big improvement in our ability to track aid spending on nutrition. We are exploring options to ensure that we use that policy marker to its best effect in DfID.