GLIMUN Position Paper
Committee: ECOSOC, WHO
Issue: Infant and Child Nutrition
Country: Japan
Delegate: Peter Giftos
The proper nourishment of infants and children in the first several years of their life is crucial for the development of their overall health and particularly for the development of effective brain function. Infant and child mortality rates are high in many developing nations, as well as less affluent sectors of developed nations, such as the USA and Brazil. The WHO has estimated that at least half of these early life deaths are preventable. Malnourishment at early stages can be detrimental to the child’s health, and puts them at a higher risk of being infected with malaria and pneumonia. Global malnourishment has annually led to 3.1 million deaths of children under five. The global community must work together to effectively make strides in counteracting this devastating social injustice.
Japan has the lowest infant mortality rate in the world. We are ready to cooperate in transferring our knowledge, methods, medical and social standards in how to more effectively nourish, treat, house, clean, and educate their children, as well as generate funds to provide meals to those in need of nutritional assistance. We have taken efforts to restore exclusive breastfeeding rates, and we were also the first country to establish a Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, which has as its main goal to keep infants healthy and properly nourished. When Indonesia faced a time of crisis due to malnutrition, Japan provided a 1.6 million USD grant to the World Food Program to address this crisis.
In order to solve this issue, Japan would like to expand facilities that properly nourish children, particularly those in nations which are struggling with any combination of low PCI, low infant mortality, and/or low number of physicians per 1000. Japan also seeks to better educate people on health measures, particularly proper nourishment through NGO’s and community involvement. Japan believes that we should consider the use of community based management. Moreover, we should strive to place children suffering from severe malnutrition in intensive treatment centers where they can get the nutrition they need. Ready to Use Therapeutic FoodS (RUFTS) have been very effective in the past for proper nutrition because these do not require refrigeration. We should look to organizations to model from, such as Action Against Hunger, whose priority is to engage with affected communities and provide foods necessary to combat malnutrition. The delegation of Japan wants to work together with other nations on crafting a sustainable resolution that will provide support towards proper nutrition for infants and children.
Sources:
“Children: Reducing Mortality.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 2019, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/children-reducing-mortality.
“Infant and Toddler Nutrition.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 Dec. 2018, www.cdc.gov/nutrition/infantandtoddlernutrition/index.html.
Inoue, Madoka, et al. “Infant Feeding Practices and Breastfeeding Duration in Japan: A Review.” International Breastfeeding Journal, BioMed Central, 25 Oct. 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3514256/.
“Malnutrition in Children.” UNICEF DATA, 2019, data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/.
“Emergency Assistance to the Republic of Indonesia.” MOFA, 2005, www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2005/7/0715-2.html.
“Solutions to Malnutrition: Action Against Hunger’s Integrated Approach.” Action Against Hunger, actionagainsthunger.ca/what-is-acute-malnutrition/solutions-to-malnutrition-acfs-integrated-approach/.
- Peter Giftos
