Asian countries agree pathways to improve nutrition financing

SUN countries across Asia have articulated three-year visions for sustainable nutrition financing, built on specific and measurable actions like developing and implementing advocacy strategies to increase political will and prioritize nutrition funding. These efforts were part of a four-day workshop organized by the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Secretariat Asia Hub in late August, bringing together over 60 participants to strengthen nutrition financing capacities.

The workshop, held from 27 to 30 August, emphasized the importance of countries making concrete commitments ahead of the 2025 Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit. Attendees from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam collaborated to draft a shared vision for nutrition financing, which will be presented at the upcoming SUN Movement Global Gathering in Kigali, Rwanda.

Participants in the workshop shared learning from successful initiatives, such as Indonesia’s budget tagging system, Bangladesh’s nutrition stakeholder mapping, and Pakistan’s multisectoral tracking and reporting systems. The importance of leveraging data to support nutrition policies was highlighted, with Thailand’s sugar-sweetened beverage tax serving as a prime example of how finance ministries can drive nutrition outcomes.

Countries also engaged with international partners like the World Bank on its Driving Nutrition Action Through the Budget programme, UNICEF on its Child Nutrition Fund, and the Asian Development Bank on its new initiative on food systems transformation, which includes a focus on nutrition. The workshop stressed the need to align sectoral investments to optimize nutrition gains and elevate the role of ministries of finance in driving sustainable nutrition efforts.

Participants acknowledged the varying levels of progress in nutrition financing across Asia, noting that many countries still face challenges in integrating nutrition into national budgets and tracking expenditures. However, the workshop provided an opportunity to clarify key concepts and offer practical tools for improving sustainable nutrition financing.

The workshop was supported by the Finance Capacity Development Platform (FCDP) and Capacity for Nutrition (C4N), with technical experts guiding countries through the five critical components of nutrition financing: policy foundations, budgeting, finance opportunities, tracking and accountability, and advocacy planning.

As countries prepare for the SUN Global Gathering and the 2025 N4G Summit, their collective efforts will be crucial in ensuring that nutrition financing becomes a priority on the development agenda, leading to healthier and more productive societies across Asia.