Pompeo can lead the fight against global hunger and malnutrition

At a time when the world faces multiple crises and threats, American leadership and engagement has never been more vital. While America alone cannot solve the world’s problems, there is one place where U.S. leadership can make an enormous impact: tackling malnutrition.

For the first time in decades, the world is experiencing an increase in the number of people suffering from hunger, driven in part by a growing number of conflicts. We see this playing out in places like Yemen, Syria, and South Sudan where war and violence are causing an unprecedented need for humanitarian food assistance to prevent starvation.

Those hit hardest are young children, who bear the scars of hunger long after a conflict is over because the effects of malnutrition in a child’s first 1,000 days stays with them forever. Malnutrition stunts a child’s development in ways that are irreversible and diminishes their potential to lead a healthy, productive life.

Out of the 160 million chronically malnourished children throughout the world, three-quarters of them live in countries impacted by conflict. As a recent report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and other UN agencies notes, a “business as usual” approach to addressing hunger and malnutrition in these environments is not sufficient.

The nomination of Mike Pompeo to be U.S. secretary of State presents a critical opportunity to do away with the “business as usual” approach to dealing with hunger and malnutrition. As secretary of State Pompeo can lead the charge in transforming the U.S. Government’s approach to the problem.

First, he can reinvigorate the important role that the U.S. Department of State plays in advancing global food security. In the fight against hunger and malnutrition, American diplomacy is as critical as the humanitarian aid and development assistance that the U.S. Government provides. Diplomacy is a key instrument of U.S. foreign policy, alongside defense and development, and it is needed more than ever on this issue.

For years, America had been a bold and visible leader in the global fight to end hunger and malnutrition, encouraging and incentivizing developing countries to take ownership of the problem and invest in solutions that improve their citizens’ food security and nutrition. It is time that the U.S. once again becomes the leader that the world needs on this issue. Working in partnership with USAID Administrator Mark Green, Pompeo can complement the smart development investments the U.S. is making in food security and nutrition with strong diplomatic leadership.

Second, Pompeo can help shape the political and diplomatic solutions that are needed to break the vicious cycle of conflict and hunger and bring about lasting peace and stability. Reducing violence and war will help reduce the number of children and families who go hungry and in turn, reducing global food insecurity will help reduce instability and conflict. As secretary of State, Pompeo can provide the capable diplomatic engagement needed to bring about resolutions to conflicts that are driving the significant increases in global hunger and malnutrition.

Finally, as secretary of State, Pompeo has a chance to shine an international spotlight on how investments in nutrition and food security can secure more peaceful and prosperous futures. In 2010, Hillary Clinton used her platform as secretary of State to launch the 1,000 Days Partnership which served as a call to action to governments around the world and helped catalyze a global movement to tackle malnutrition, particularly in the critical first 1,000 days of a child’s life when nutrition sets the foundation of lifelong health and development.

The organization that I lead, 1,000 Days, was born out of that call to action and we now mobilize advocates around the world and build bipartisan support in Congress to invest in life-saving, high-impact global nutrition programs that help children and their countries rise out of poverty. The next secretary of State has a window of opportunity to build an enduring legacy that could change the lives of millions of people for the better.

It is in America’s national security and economic interests to ensure that fewer people throughout the world go hungry and fewer children die from malnutrition. It is also core to our values as a great nation. As a supporter of the Global Food Security Act while he was in Congress, Pompeo saw the value of investing in programs that help reduce hunger and malnutrition.

It is my hope that Pompeo still sees the value of American leadership in the fight against global hunger and malnutrition and that if confirmed as secretary of State, he seizes the opportunity to contribute to a world in which families can feed themselves and children have the chance to reach their full potential.

Lucy Martinez Sullivan is the executive director of 1,000 Days, a non-profit organization working in the U.S. and around the world to improve nutrition and ensure women and children have the healthiest first 1,000 days.