Emma McClarkin MEP lends support to Save the Children’s ‘Race Against Hunger’ campaign

East Midlands Conservative MEP Emma McClarkin has welcomed the UK Prime Minister’s recent announcement that he will host a global meeting on hunger and nutrition on the final day of the London 2012 Olympics.

Miss McClarkin has also backed Save the Children’s Race Against Hunger campaign, which aims to build political and public support to tackle hunger at the London Olympics and beyond into 2013.

The charity’s latest report The Child Development Index shows that against a backdrop of overwhelming improvements in the lives of children around the world, undernutrition remains one of the main factors holding back progress in children’s well-being. It also shows that the proportion of children suffering from acute hunger has risen in the second half of the 2000s.

Miss McClarkin said:

“I am proud of the Prime Minister’s leadership in bringing together world leaders at the London Olympics to discuss and plan how to tackle one of the biggest challenges for children worldwide – hunger and malnutrition.

“It is shocking that in a world where there is enough food for everyone malnutrition is an underlying cause of the death of 2.6 million children each year.

“Therefore I am happy to lend my support to Save the Children’s campaign which calls on the British public to take up the baton and join the race against hunger.

“I hope that the Olympic meeting signals the start of a global effort to tackle hunger that will leave a lasting legacy for millions of children around the world.”

For more information about Save the Children please visit www.savethechildren.org.uk