ICN2 brings global attention to nutrition

From 19 – 21 November 2014, the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) was held in Rome, Italy. ICN2 was a high-level intergovernmental meeting, focused on global attention to addressing malnutrition. ICN2 was jointly organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), in cooperation with IFAD, IFPRI, UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank, WTO, WFP and the High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis (HLTF).

Over 2,200 participants attended the meeting, including representatives from more than 170 governments, 150 representatives from civil society and nearly 100 from the business community. In addition to plenary sessions held on November 19^th, 20^th and 21^st, several pre-conference events for parliamentarians, civil society and the private sector, as well as round tables and side events, provided a forum for participants to delve deeper into specific nutrition issues. The two main outcome documents–the Rome Declaration on Nutrition and the Framework for Action—were endorsed by participating governments at the conference, committing world leaders to establishing national policies aimed at eradicating malnutrition and transforming food systems to make nutritious diets available to all.

Many people from the SUN Movement contributed to the event, here are some of their voices:

Tom Arnold, SUN Movement Coordinator ad interim

• Political prioritization, resources, accountability and sensible policies are all pre-conditions for progress in nutrition
• We need to accelerate progress to address malnutrition. In the SUN Movement, focus on learning and accountability are the keys to accelerating progress made in ending malnutrition

Asma Lateef, Director, Bread for the World Institute

• In SUN countries: self-assessments by multiple stakeholders stimulate accountability

King Letsie III of Lesotho and African Union Nutrition Champion

• I would like to commend initiatives such as The Lancet Nutrition Series, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, the REACH Initiative, for shedding light on actions that need ot be undertaken in order to improve food and nutrition security in the continent. 

Patricia Ngoran, Director, National Nutrition Programme Côte d’Ivoire 

• Malnutrition is invisible to most; in Ivory Coast we brought it under the SUN

Ban Ki Moon, United Nations Secretary General

• The 54 countries leading the scaling up nutrition movement have recognised nutrition as integral to their social and economic development

Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Programme

• The ICN2 framework for action builds on the efforts of the thousand days programme, the scaling up nutrition movement and the zero hunger challenge. All movements with the goal not not just of reducing hunger and malnutrition but with the goal of ending it.

Melinda Gates, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

• The SUN Movement has provided the coordination we’ve been lacking as a community

Find out more information about ICN2