SUN Movement Unit launches to better reach the 55 million people in the Sindh Province of Pakistan

On 17 October 2016, the Government of Pakistan launched a SUN Movement Unit in Sindh Province with the presence of Minister Hazar Kahn Bijarani of the Planning and Development Department (P&DD). The Minister announced that nutrition is in the spotlight in Pakistan and together with development partners, they are fighting hard to tackle the problem of malnutrition across the country. The launch in Karachi was supported by the World Food Programme.

Speakers included Ms. Rehana Memon, Secretary Development P&DD Sindh , Ms. Rehana Memon, Secretary Development P&DD Sindh, Mr. Muhammad Aslam Shaheen, Chief Nutrition/SUN Focal Point Pakistan, Dr. Mazhar Iqbal and Dr. Samar Memon (Nutrition Coordinator-P&DD Sindh and Mr. Stephen Glunning, Acting Country Director WFP Pakistan.

SUN is a unique movement, presently having 57 member countries across the globe, founded in 2010 on the principle that ‘all people have a right to food and good nutrition’. Under this platform, active participation and support of the UN agencies, civil society, business, academia and donor networks, across multiple sectors, including health, agriculture, planning and education sectors at all levels work together with a focus on a collective effort to improve nutrition,”

Hazar Kahn Bijarani, Minister of the Planning and Development Department

In Pakistan, two out of every five (44 percent) children are stunted, meaning they are short for their age due to chronic malnutrition, a condition that has lifelong consequences on physical and mental development. The 2011 National Nutrition Survey showed that half of children under 5 years of age in Sindh are stunted, 40 percent are underweight, and 73 percent of children under age of five are anaemic.

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