This month, after electing a new Grassroots Trustee to our Board of Trustees (congratulations Cameron!), we heard about the achievements of grassroots advocacy during the turbulet month of July. With the recently-announced merger between DFID and the Foreign Office to create a new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), there was lots of activity to report, with many MPs agreeing with your requests for their support for a continued focus of UK aid on poverty reduction, and to spend 0.7% of our national income on overseas development assistance (ODA).

Expert guest speaker Martha Nyagaya, Nutrition International’s Country Director in Kenya, told us about the importance of ensuring that nutrition programmes in countries around the world are coordinated with wider international development efforts on disease eradication, food security, and economic opportunity, especially with the huge extra challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. She explained how the ‘Nutrition for Growth’ (N4G) agenda is vital to these efforts, and how continued UK leadership is essential. That’s why we’d love it if you could take this month’s advocacy action on nutrition!

You can watch a recording of the conference call here:

The resources and links referred to in the conference call:

Media article by Fiona from the London Group about the need for global solidarity during the pandemic: https://www.facebook.com/groups/620386228118856/permalink/1660054960818639/

Stort Valley Group uploaded resources on MP meetings: https://www.facebook.com/groups/620386228118856

Picture of Edinburgh Group’s meeting with their MP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/620386228118856/permalink/1660019070822228/

Brighton Goup’s video of their event at the local ‘Covidarity’ Festival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahIll4_oHHs&feature=emb_logo&fbclid=IwAR3dfKdwRgJ8cDMxGaQoFrk4UD8dSrm4Mb7x5wevSCKolUOnWEypyNZFC4w

National Conference sign-up details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/results-national-conference-2020-hopeful-campaigning-in-challenging-times-registration-114317903928

Global Nutrition Report mentioned by Martha: https://globalnutritionreport.org/reports/2020-global-nutrition-report/

Media article on proposed aid cuts: https://www.devex.com/news/uk-aid-to-be-cut-by-2-9b-this-year-97766