International Development Committee

Inquiry: Women, Peace, and Security

Submission of Evidence: United Against Malnutrition and Hunger

United Against Malnutrition and Hunger (UAMH) is a not-for-profit organisation campaigning for UK action on global malnutrition and hunger. We believe that access to good nutrition is not only a right that should be enjoyed by all around the world, but also a vital pre-requisite to achieving wider development goals.

Our alliance brings together leaders from scientific, business, finance, military, diplomatic, philanthropic, and faith backgrounds who want to see a world in which everyone has access to the nutrition they need to thrive and contribute to prosperous and stable communities.

Our mission is to press for UK action on global malnutrition and hunger by mobilising cross-sector expertise and championing solutions that can end it.

Access to good nutrition is foundational to development. Good nutrition plays a critical role in health, education, economic advancement, and gender equality. It is critical to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG5 – achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls.

Girls and women are disproportionately impacted by malnutrition, particularly in conflict settings. Women often eat last and least, even though they have greater nutritional needs. Cultural norms around diets, food access, early marriage, and schooling make adolescent girls particularly vulnerable to malnutrition.[1] Women and girls often have less access to productive resources (e.g., education, land, finance, and social networks) which limits their ability to access quality nutrition for themselves and their children. Anaemia continues to impact over two billion people – most of them women – leading to learning deficits and poor school performance in children and lower work productivity in women.[2] These losses accrue to both individuals and society, costing the global economy an estimated $3.5 trillion every year.[3] Ensuring girls and women have access to good nutrition is critical to supporting their health, education, development, and well-being, as well as the overall productivity and stability of their communities.

Women who suffer from malnutrition are more likely to give birth to small and malnourished babies, advancing intergenerational cycles of poverty and inequality.[4] Malnutrition during pregnancy and early childhood stunts physical growth and brain development, causing irreversible damage. Maternal mortality is unacceptably high, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected states, and is closely linked to malnutrition in pregnancy. About 260,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2023.[5] Approximately 92% of all maternal deaths occurred in low- and lower-middle-income countries in 2023.[6] In 2023, 61% of global maternal deaths took place in conflict or fragile affected states, despite representing only 25% of global live births.[7]

When humanitarian crises or conflicts hinder access to food, women and girls are the first to go without. Armed conflict has a direct impact on food security and is the leading driver of hunger globally – almost half of the total number of people facing food insecurity (135 million out of 282 million) suffered conflict-driven hunger.[8] When conflict strikes, civilian populations are often forced to flee their homes, land, and livestock grazing areas, leaving them food insecure and without access to their local markets or agriculture. Malnutrition is a typical outcome in conflict zones, with children most affected by increased mortality and stunted growth. Conflicts also disrupt supply chains and infrastructure, including farms and agricultural land, through looting, or destruction of food stocks, agricultural assets, food production facilities, and other objects or critical infrastructure indispensable to the survival of a population, leading to increased long-term food insecurity, as is currently the case in Sudan. Security threats to trade routes also lead to increased food insecurity. Women, children, and marginalised groups are disproportionately affected, bearing the brunt of violence and its long-term impacts on their health and nutrition.

Ensuring girls and women have access to good nutrition in fragile and conflict affected states is critical to supporting their health, education, development, and well-being, as well as the overall productivity and stability of their communities. Addressing the specific nutritional needs of women and girls must be included in the UK’s Women, Peace and Security Strategy in order to ensure women’s voices and specific needs are heard and address as part of the wider strategy. In addition, it is crucial for the UK to support an end to conflicts by bolstering locally led responses and empowering women’s networks to prevent further violence and address the specific nutritional needs of women and girls.