Myanmar’s UN Network for Nutrition and Food Security holds their first retreat

Photo: REACH Myanmar

On 31 May 2016, the UN Network for Nutrition and Food Security in Myanmar came together for their first retreat in Yangon. Funded and facilitated by the UN Network’s REACH, the event brought together over 50 representatives from FAO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNOPS (LIFT and 3 MDG Multi-donor Trust Fund projects), WFP, World Bank, the UN Resident Coordinator’s office, including representatives of the UN Network at country level and the UN Network/REACH Secretariat at global level.

The retreat was an opportunity for UN staff to come together to reflect on the UN Network’s contributions in-country and to learn from one another. The workshop focused on the following three common objectives:

1. To enable a participative and fact-based dialogue among stakeholders in the UN Network for Nutrition and Food Security on scaling up nutrition requirements in Myanmar;
2. To take stock of current UN agency contributions and identify gaps, with a view to better supporting national plans and programmes; and
3. To begin a joint dialogue on the UN comparative advantage and future direction for scaling up nutrition.

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The retreat included an interactive mapping exercise, group work and facilitated sessions where participants went through the complex and interconnected causes of undernutrition. They discussed the need to involve multiple dimensions of the food system, the health care system and to promote individual/household/community care behaviours and practices.

Participants revisited the nutrition activities and coverage captured in the UN Inventory of Nutrition Actions and brainstormed how its findings can stimulate increased collaboration in nutrition across UN agencies. The inventory was also highlighted as a valuable tool for helping the UN compare its contributions to government priorities, plans and programmes.

Watch a video about the meeting: