Like any crisis, the one we face now is a turning point. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed profound systemic failures in the systems that support nutrition. Sustaining investments in essential life-saving nutrition interventions and food security programs will be key to protect hard-won nutrition gains. But we must also draw the lessons from the pandemic and build forward better, more resilient and efficient food, social protection and health systems in support of nutrition – as recommended by the UN Secretary General in the Policy Brief on the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Security and Nutrition (watch his video address here).

On December 14th 2020, the Governments of Canada and Bangladesh, in partnership with the Government of Japan, hosted a virtual launch of the Nutrition Year of Action . This has set in motion a year-long effort that will be punctuated by major global events in 2021, including the UN Food Systems Summit (alongside the UN General Assembly in September) and the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit (in Tokyo, Japan, in December). This global momentum is much-needed. But we must remember there is no one-size-fits-all for countries. Systemic solutions must be country specific and country-owned if to get the results we all hope for.

Building on SUN’s multisectoral work in countries, this Year of Action presents a unique opportunity to align global players and financial incentives behind country-led actions to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable, while priming the systemic transformation needed to achieve the nutrition goals and catalyze progress towards the SDGs.

Learn more on the SUN Movement’s approach:

Global awareness is rising on the need to transform our food systems if we are to achieve nutrition targets and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN Secretary-General António Guterres will convene a Food Systems Summit in September 2021 that aims at launching bold new actions to transform the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about food. It is a summit for everyone everywhere – a people’s summit. It is also a solutions summit that will require everyone to take action to transform the world’s food systems.

Along this journey, it is critical to recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all solution at the country level. Every country needs a tailor-made approach. This will require dialogues across multiple sectors to reach a confluence of perspectives and develop a collective, systemic, and sustainable path forward. Global stakeholders must facilitate this process and align behind country-owned solutions for results and impact. This focus on country-led systemic change is fully aligned with the SUN 3.0 strategy.

The Food Systems Summit Dialogues will offer one of the most dynamic ways to engage SUN stakeholders at the country level to engage in national-level dialogues, bringing food system stakeholders together and engaging them in considering how they can unite around transformative actions in support of the SDGs. The aim is to collectively define national pathways towards more resilient, nutrition-sensitive, and climate-smart food systems at the country level.

SUN Stakeholders are invited to engage in these Dialogues actively, building on the SUN multi-sectoral/multi-stakeholder work and bringing the SUN priorities to the table. As such, Dialogues can kick-start the SUN 3.0 strategy, revitalize ownership of the nutrition agenda at the highest political level and initiate commitments to transformative action in order to achieve sustainable impact for people’s nutrition, in the lead up to the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit.