Guidance Note on Integration of Nutrition in the UN Development Assistance Framework

On 11 December 2017, the United Nations System Standing Committen on Nutrition (UNSCN) launched the “Guidance Note on Integration of Nutrition in The United Nations Development Assistance Framework”. The purpose of this Guidance Note is to assist United Nation Country Teams (UNCTs) with the integration of nutrition into the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), using a multi-sectoral approach. It includes how best to reflect the risks and opportunities related to all forms of malnutrition in the Common Country Analysis (CCA) and the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). This is an important and timely endeavour considering the outcome of the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) and, in particular, the proclamation of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025).

The Nutrition Decade provides a unique window of opportunity for the UN and key stakeholders to provide coherent and intensified support to country-led policy development and programming to accelerate the achievement of global nutrition targets, as well as contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This Guidance Note is organized around a standard methodology, with flexibility for adapting to specific country context, based on existing good practices. It provides the following:

• A brief overview on the relevance of nutrition to the achievement of all the SDGs and national development priorities;

• A practical set of tools that can help UNCTs engage effectively with country and development partners in analysing nutrition situation, and on this basis, to include priority actions for tackling all forms of malnutrition, its causes and consequences;

• Expected performance outcomes related to including nutrition in the UNDAF, along with tools for quality assurance, nutrition core monitoring and evaluation (M&E) indicators for UNCTs, and country partners to consider including.

LAUNCHED: Guidance Note on the Integration of #Nutrition in UN Country Plans – a tool to support UN Country Teams in integrating nutrition into their planning&programming, & to reflect nutrition-related risks&opportunities in the Common Country Analysis > https://t.co/x65mY1YyrQ pic.twitter.com/XtUqT4ckYD

— UNSCN (@UNSCN) December 11, 2017

The Note is part of efforts to ensure an effective response by the UN system to assist Member States to prepare and implement coherent and balanced development policies that effectively tackle malnutrition. It should be used along with the 2017 UNDAF Guidance and related documents available on the UNDG website,3 as well as tools provided by specialized UN agencies and the United Nations Network (UNN) for Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN Movement), including Renewed Efforts Against Child Hunger and Under-Nutrition (REACH). Together, these resources can be leveraged to support integration of nutrition into country UNDAFs.

Download the Guidance Note: English