The Crisis of Malnutrition (Multimedia Exhibit from Doctors Without Borders)

On Wednesday, June 2, Medicins Sans Fronters or MSF (Doctors Without Borders) will launch a powerful multimedia exhibit at the New York Times Center in Manhattan that will shed light on the underlying causes of the malnutrition crisis around the world and innovative approaches to address the problem.

The exhibit, consisting of video and still photographic documentaries, is part of the Starved for Attention campaign, which will run through World Food Day on October 16.

If you can't travel to New York, you can view the exhibit online. Additional exhibits are already planned in Toronto (to coincide with the G-8 and G-20 summits), Abidjan (to coincide with a major West African health meeting), London, Milan (at the FORMA museum), and Washington DC.

MSF wants to emphasize that Starved for Attention is not only about creating awareness among the public, but also about encouraging action from citizens and decision-makers.

With the campaign, and an accompanying petition (available after June 2), we aim to highlight several key points:

* The period between conception and age 2 is a critical window of opportunity for malnutrition interventions.

* Quality matters: countries need to commit to providing resources to ensure adequate nutrition for infants and young children at risk of malnutrition.

* Governments supplying food aid to developing countries must stop providing nutritionally inadequate foods for infants and young children. The food aid double standard must end.

* Donors should only support programs that respect the minimal nutritional needs of infants and young children, and work with countries most affected by the crisis to put access to nutrient-rich foods at the center of their efforts to tackle childhood malnutrition.

MSF worked with photojournalists from the agency VII who traveled to malnutrition “hotspots” around the world—from war zones to emerging economies—to produce a series of multimedia documentaries that shed light on the underlying causes of the malnutrition crisis around the world and innovative approaches to address the problem.

Seamlessly blending photography and video produced by some of the most prolific and award-winning photojournalists, “Starved for Attention” captures a new visual identity for malnutrition through frontline stories from Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, India, Mexico, and the United States. Two US components highlight US food aid as well as the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.

Here is a list of photojournalists who contributed to the exhibit.

Marcus Bleasdale in Djibouti

Jessica Dimmock in Burkina Faso & the U.S.

Ron Haviv in Bangladesh

Antonin Kratochvil in the U.S.

Franco Pagetti in Democratic Republic of Congo

Stephanie Sinclair in India

John Stanmeyer in Mexico

Whether you can view the exhibit in person or through your computer, I encourage you to sign the petition.  And please tell your friends and colleagues.