Save the Children starts a food fight with the G8 » Communities » 24dash.com

Save the Children starts a food fight with the G8

As the G8 meet in Japan and food prices skyrocket, Save the Children asks the UK to 'Fight for Food' as part of its biggest ever campaign to save childrens lives.

Save the Childrens online interactive website 'This is Kroo Bay' featuring Kroo Bay a slum in Sierra Leone (www.savethechildren.org.uk/kroobay) hosts new videos, photos and information on the reality of rising food prices and how they are affecting families in Kroo Bay. First hand stories from some of the most vulnerable families show the personal impact of political decisions and should compel the G8 to wake up and take swift action to stop the current emergency threatening the lives of millions of children across the globe.

Fatu is interviewed from Kroo Bay. She is 28 years old and has twin girls aged 1 year 3 months - Khadija and Fatima. Were struggling this year. Last year, one cup of rice was 400 (7p), now it costs 800 (14p). The price of everything is increasing every day. When they weighed my children at the hospital they told me theyd lost weight because they were not eating enough food. If there is any more increase in price things would be even worse for me.

Save the Children has also launched a new online initiative asking for the public to support by putting their voice to Save the Childrens Fight for Food and help influence the world leaders at the G8 in Japan next week. Taking inspiration from an ancient Japanese tradition of tying your wish to a bamboo tree, the charity has created its very own ( broccoli ) tree and is calling on the public to send in their online wishes to be tied to the branches.

Adrian Lovett, Director of Campaigns and Communication: We want as many people as possible to sign up to our online tree so we can send the messages onto the G8 and show how many people are ready to fight for food. We want potatoes not promises, and bananas not biofuels!

This online action begins as leaked documents show G8 leaders plan to announce next week that they are dropping their promise of delivering 25$ billion of increased aid to Africa. Since the promise of this aid was made in 2005, rising food prices and other inflation means the cost of living has risen by 83%.

Lovett continued: The G8 is betraying the hopes of a generation of children by cutting back its aid for children who havent got enough to eat. The food crisis is an emergency and the G8 must treat it as that

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

• For further information, or for print or broadcast quality photos or videos from Kroo Bay, please contact Kate Redman on 020 7012 6863, or out of hours contact the on-call press officer on 07831 650 409
• Save the Children wants 10 million people to stand up for the 10 million children dying before the age of five every year.
• Save the Children is the worlds independent childrens charity. Were outraged that millions of children are still denied proper healthcare, food, education and protection. Were working flat out to get every child their rights and were determined to make further, faster changes. How many? How fast? Its up to you. For further information about our work please visit www.savethechildren.org.uk
• A report by the Lancet (January 16 2008) described the collective international response to child malnutrition as 'fragmented and dysfunctional'. The report also showed that malnutrition is the cause of a third of child deaths under the age of five. It called for reform of the UN and recommends the UN's Standing Committee on Nutrition becomes better empowered to call UN agencies such as the World Food Programme to account. It also recommends reducing duplication between UN organisations