Towards eradicating child stunting for inclusive and sustainable development in Africa: opening remarks Carlos Lopes UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA

Abstract

Opening remarks by Carlos Lopes UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA at the Side event at the Seventh Joint Annual Meetings of the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and AU Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance. Mr. Lopes, on his remarks highlighted that, the first in a series of publications to come, it aims to help position the key elements of inclusive development and complement regional efforts on the reduction of child undernutrition in Africa. One of the most glaring consequences according to the study is that, today, there are more children suffering from chronic undernutrition in Africa compared to 20 years ago. Experts have confirmed that the effects of child stunting end up becoming a life sentence. This serious if we consider that between 40 to 67 percent of the working age population suffered from stunting as children.