The Parliamentarian Network of Burkina Faso meets to strengthen efforts to end malnutrition

From 29 to 30 September 2016, a “parliamentary dialogue on nutrition” brought together 35 members of the parliamentary network for nutritional security in Burkina Faso.

The workshop was co-organized by the Ministry of Health and the UN REACH initiative in collaboration with Helen Keller International, the United Nations Network and the Civil Society Network of the SUN Movement. The opening ceremony was marked by a speech from the 4th Vice-President of the National Assembly, the Honorable Ousséni TAMBOURA.

The Parliamentary Network for Nutrition Security is composed of members from various parliamentary groups of the National Assembly, ministerial sectors, SUN Movement Networks and the Nutrition Journalists Club. The objective of this workshop was to allow a participatory dialogue on the problems of nutrition in Burkina Faso in order to sensitize parliamentarians in favour of more concrete nutritional actions. Several points were discussed, including:

• The causes and consequences of malnutrition;
• The extent of malnutrition in Burkina Faso;
• The country’s commitments to nutrition;
• Existing laws and codes related to nutrition;
• Nutrition financing and coordination mechanisms in nutrition;
• Current challenges and perspectives.

The workshop resulted in the development of a parliamentary network action plan to strengthen:

• Advocating for nutrition, integrating nutrition coordination into the Office of the Prime Minister, and increasing the budget line for nutrition within the Ministry of Health budget;
• The legislative and regulatory framework for nutrition, with the drafting of a bill on the customs exemption of “premix” (combination of vitamins and minerals used for food fortification) and therapeutic foods, and drafting of a bill to enforce the Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and;
• The capacity of parliamentarians in nutrition.