Global champions appointed to the SUN Movement Lead Group to spearhead the fight against malnutrition

On 21 September 2016, the office of the United Nations Secretary-General announced the 29 member SUN Movement Lead Group to spearhead the fight against malnutrition over the next two years. The group was appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and coincided with their inaugural meeting at UNICEF House during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly. Their appointment puts them in a strategic position to align business, civil society, donor and UN networks, regionally and globally, behind the 57 SUN Countries and three states of India who are leading the Movement.

September 29, 2016 - Last update: February 10, 2023

On 21 September 2016, UNICEF Executive Director and SUN Movement Lead Group Chair Anthony Lake addresses The Scaling Up Nutrition Movement 2016-2010: From Inspiration to Impact meeting at UNICEF House. The SUN Movement Lead Group, which is chaired by UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, brings together high-level leaders from government, civil society, international organizations, donor agencies, businesses and foundations in a collective action to improve nutrition. The SUN Movement, launched in 2010, works to improve direct nutrition interventions, focusing on the critical 1,000-day window between the start of a pregnancy and a childs second birthday. The country-led initiative now includes commitments from 55 countries, more than 100 global stakeholders and over 2,000 organizations.

UNICEF Executive Director and SUN Movement Lead Group Chair Anthony Lake addresses The Scaling Up Nutrition Movement 2016-2010: From Inspiration to Impact meeting at UNICEF House.

On 21 September 2016, the office of the United Nations Secretary-General announced the 29 member SUN Movement Lead Group to spearhead the fight against malnutrition over the next two years. The group was appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and coincided with their inaugural meeting at UNICEF House during the 71^st session of the United Nations General Assembly. Their appointment puts them in a strategic position to align business, civil society, donor and UN networks, regionally and globally, behind the 57 SUN Countries and three states of India who are leading the Movement. These global leaders will be critical in guiding the Movement’s efforts towards achieving the objectives of the new SUN Movement Strategy and Roadmap (2016-2020).

Click here to meet the 29 members of the SUN Movement Lead Group

View the press release from the office of the United Nations Secretary-General English | Français

Gerda Verburg, SUN Movement Coordinator and Assistant Secretary-General, opened the event and welcomed the high level guests to the interactive meeting. The meeting was chaired by Anthony Lake, Chair of the SUN Movement Lead Group and Executive Director of UNICEF, who reflected on the grass roots spirit of the Movement from its early days to the strength of the Movement today in driving forward the nutrition agenda.

In 2012, there were 165 million children stunted around the world. Today there are 156 million children. The Movement cannot take credit for all of this acheivement but we have been a big part of it, especially in bringing people together at the country level, ministers across government and bringing governments together with civil society and private sector, all working together to achieve results.

Executive Director of UNICEF, Anthony Lake.

The dynamic discussion was driven by questions posed by key stakeholders in SUN Countries via short videos. Lead Group members were given the opportunity to respond to issues raised and describe how they could, as members of the Lead Group, drive action to address these challenges.

“Guatemala took a multi-sectoral approach to improving nutrition and will be a champion in the region and the world for this approach. I intend to share these experiences so others can learn and lead in their own countries.”

President of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales.

Watch the questions from SUN Countries Burkina Faso, Comoros, El Salvador, Kyrgyz Republic, Malawi, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and Uganda to learn about the types of challenges faced by SUN Countries in scaling up nutrition:

Note: Videos from Nepal, Kyrgyz Republic and Uganda were screened during the inaugural meeting of the SUN Movement Lead Group. Videos from Uganda and Comoros were screened during the launch of the SUN Movement Strategy and Roadmap. Due to time constraints, unfortunately the videos from El Salvador and Burkina Faso were not screened at either event.