Originally published by the Orange County Breeze.

President Biden signed into law the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act (H.R. 4693), a bipartisan bill by U.S. Representative Young Kim (CA-39), House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Michael McCaul (TX-10), Chair Gregory Meeks (NY-05) and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (PA-10) to advance targeted, evidence-based interventions for the prevention and treatment of global malnutrition.

“Every 11 seconds, a child dies of malnutrition, tragically claiming roughly 3.1 million young lives each year. Rising inflation, food supply chain disruptions and global conflict is causing even more children to suffer,” said Kim. “As a mother of four and new grandmother, my heart aches for the children who do not have the nutrition they need. The Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act helps bridge this gap by giving USAID necessary tools to deploy low cost, evidence-based resources to areas that need support the most. I am thrilled we can get this bipartisan effort to combat global malnutrition officially across the finish line and will continue working on the Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights Subcommittee to end preventable deaths worldwide.”

• Authorizes the USAID administrator to scale up the prevention and treatment of global malnutrition and coordinate with relevant public and private partners on these efforts; 
• Directs the USAID administrator to select priority countries that would receive prioritized nutrition assistance; 
• Establishes clear goals for increasing coverage of high-impact, evidence-based interventions in priority countries; 
• Establishes the Nutrition Leadership Council to coordinate USAID’s efforts on preventing and treating malnutrition, with representatives from relevant inter- and intra-agency offices; 
• Directs USAID to develop and submit an implementation plan to prevent and treat global malnutrition; and, 
• Requires USAID to submit an annual report to Congress on the progress made towards preventing and treating global malnutrition. 

The Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021 passed the House on April 27, 2022 and the Senate on September 20, 2022.  

The bill is endorsed by 1,000 Days, Action Against Hunger, Alliance to End Hunger, Bread for the World, CARE, Farm Journal Foundation, Food for the Hungry, Global Health Council, HarvestPlus, Hellen Keller International, InterAction, ONE Campaign, RESULTS, Save the Children, UNICEF USA, and World Vision US. 

Read the bill HERE.