Offering of Letters 2014 | Page 8

Headline 4. How is the international community addressing the continuing global food crisis? USAID provides emergency relief supplies, including food and water, following the massive typhoon in the Philippines in Nov. 2013. The storm was five times bigger than Hurricane Katrina. Carol Han/OFDA The U.S. government has always been a global leader in responding to food and humanitarian crises. Other bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, and international development organizations are also stepping up to meet the challenge of ending global hunger and malnutrition. President Obama addressed global hunger in his January 2009 inaugural address to the nation, and the administration’s pivotal efforts at the G-8 Summit later that year in L’Aquila, Italy, led to broader international commitments to help reduce hunger. The United States has shown considerable leadership through its launch, jointly with Ireland, of the 1,000 Days Partnership, which promotes action and investment to improve nutrition for mothers and children during the 1,000 days from a woman’s pregnancy through her child’s second birthday, when better nutrition can improve the rest of a child’s life and help break the cycle of poverty. In June 2013, the United States pledged $10 billion through fiscal year 2014 toward eliminating malnutrition in the 1,000-day window, and it promised to continue funding nutrition programs at this level beyond 2014. 6  Bread for the World • www.bread.org/go/OL 5. I und