UN Network Q3 2017 Quarterly Update

UN Network for SUN (UNN) communications, materials, meetings & events

• The second webinar of the new UNN webinar series was held on 19th (English session), 20th (French session) and 21st September (Spanish session), which focused on WFP’s Fill the Nutrient Gap tool and methodology. For further information about the webinars, including the recordings, please visit the event webpage.
• The French version of the Compendium of Actions for Nutrition (Compendium des actions de nutrition) is now available.
• The new web-based version of the UN Nutrition Inventory tool is available. The tool will be presented during the next UNN webinar, organized by the UNN Secretariat in collaboration with the World Bank’s SecureNutrition platform. For further information, please write to unnetworkforsun@wfp.org.
• The UNN Quarterly Update for the second quarter of 2017 is available.
• New UNN logos have been developed in English, French and Spanish, using the new SUN colour palette. Low resolution versions of these logos – both colour and B+W – are available on the SUN website in JPEG and PNG formats. High resolution versions are available upon request (write to unnetworkforsun@wfp.org). A web article profiling the new UNN webinar series, which is being conducted in collaboration with the World Bank’s SecureNutrition platform, is available online.
• In addition, web articles about selected developments supported by REACH at the country level have been published on the REACH website (e.g. Burkina Faso, Chad, Lesotho, Myanmar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zimbabwe).
• The UNN Secretariat has commissioned an independent end of term evaluation of 5 countries supported by the REACH partnership, namely: Burkina Faso; Haiti; Myanmar; Mali; and Senegal. The evaluation covers the period 2014-2017, and will contribute to both objectives of accountability and learning.

Developments at the UN Agencies and other UN nutrition bodies

• The United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025) work programme was referenced in the A70/30 report (ICN2 report), which was presented to the General Assembly in September and the FAO Council in July. Click here to learn about various actions and commitments made under the Nutrition Decade, including those of the UN agencies.
• For the first time ever, UNICEF and WHO joined the Rome-based UN agencies (FAO, IFAD and WFP) to prepare a consolidated report on The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World. The report was launched on 15th September in Rome at FAO Headquarters, and provides an overview of the status of hunger and malnutrition in all its forms in the world. The report will monitor progress towards both the targets of ending hunger (SDG Target 2.1) and all forms of malnutrition (SDG Target 2.2).
• Pakistan’s newly developed Nutrition Management Information System/web portal was launched by Ministry of National Health Services for Regulation and Coordination and UNICEF (click on the Dashboard tab in the top-right corner, followed by the Nutrition link/icon).
• On 1st August, the start of World Breastfeeding Week, UNICEF and WHO launched the Global Breastfeeding Collective, a partnership of 20 prominent international agencies calling on donors, policymakers, philanthropies and civil society to increase investment in breastfeeding worldwide. Global Breastfeeding Collective developed a series of advocacy materials, including The Investment Case for Breastfeeding and Global Breastfeeding Scorecard, leading up to the 25th anniversary of World Breastfeeding Week.

UN Network for SUN Quarterly Update Q3 2017

• UNICEF and WHO have released a Compendium of case studies of the Baby- friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), featuring experiences from 13 countries.
• In August, UNICEF, in collaboration with the SUN Civil Society Network and HKI, prepared a series of webinars, with a view to increasing understanding, implementation and monitoring of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.
• UNICEF, jointly with USAID/SPRING launched a Digital Image Bank on Infant and Young Child Feeding during a webinar, which was held on 19th September.
• UNICEF released the 5th Issue of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) Newsletter, which is available in English, French, Russian and Spanish. The newsletter highlights recent developments such as new MICS6 surveys, relevant events (e.g. MICS6 Survey Design Workshop), methodological work and other related insights.
• IFAD has developed an infographic, depicting how IFAD investments provide opportunities for improving food security and nutrition outcomes, leveraging the findings from its mapping of nutrition- sensitive interventions in East and Southern Africa.
• A new WFP publication is available, entitled Counting the beans – The True Cost of a Plate of Food Around the World. The document highlights food access disparities, the impact on cost and affordability of a nutritious diet for different target groups as well as the measures that WFP is taking with its partners to address them.
• WFP has released Nutrifami, a free application that allows families and communities in Colombia to learn about nutrition, healthy diets and good eating habits.
• In early September, WFP disseminated its first issue of its new nutrition newsletter – The Hub, which seeks to increase communications about WFP’s work in nutrition, particularly among WFP colleagues.
• WFP has also recently held various technical meetings on the Fill the Nutrient Gap analysis at the global level with institutions such as IFPRI and the Sackler Institute, dissemination meetings at the national level (Cambodia, Laos & Tanzania), and with other presentations planned.
• A brief article about nutrition-sensitive programming at WFP was included in the 55th Issue of ENN’s Field Exchange (page 63).
• A 3-day WHO workshop was held in Dar-es-Salaam (29th-31st August) on how to address nutrition issues faced by people during public health emergencies. The workshop brought together WHO staff responsible for Health in Emergencies and Nutrition from a number of countries in Africa (e.g. Burundi, CAR, Chad, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan).
• IAEA’s 6th newsletter on Nutritional & Health Related Environmental Studies was circulated in August, highlighting its activities in the first semester of 2017, such as trainings/workshops on the use of stable isotope techniques and e-Learning modules on assessing energy expenditure and body composition.
• UNFPA has established a partnership with Canada’s Nutrition International (NI, formerly Micronutrient Initiative) in an effort to integrate family planning and nutrition services.
• A Guidance Note for UN Humanitarian Coordinators on Integrated multi-sectoral nutrition actions was jointly issued in August by UNOCHA, the Global Nutrition Cluster, members of the UNSCN and the SUN Movement. In addition to providing basic information about malnutrition, the note explains why addressing malnutrition is life-saving in emergencies and calls for a multi-sector approach.
• The 42nd issue of the UNSCN News is available and places a Spotlight on the Nutrition Decade.
• A new UNSCN Discussion Paper is available (in English) on Sustainable Diets for Healthy People and a Healthy Planet. Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and Russian translations will be forthcoming.

International nutrition meetings & events with considerable UN participation

• The High Level Political Forum on sustainable development was held on 10- 19th July in New York, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, where voluntary reviews of progress towards the SDGs were highlighted. Some nutrition side events were organized, including: (1) an event about the CHEW partnership between EAT and UNICEF, which seeks to integrate healthy and sustainable food systems into child nutrition research and action; (2) Meeting of the Friends of the Interagency Task Force on NCDs; and (3) an event on Addressing hunger and poverty in protracted crises, organized by the CFS and Netherlands Mission to the UN.
• An IPC Steering Committee meeting was held on 26-27th July in Rome at FAO Headquarters.
• On 3rd & 4th August, UNICEF held a Nutrition in Emergencies Preparedness (NiE) workshop in Tbilisi (Georgia), with participation from over 20 experts from Government, NGO partners, UN agencies (e.g. UNFP, WHO, SC- UK), including the Turkish Red Crescent and UNICEF staff from Armenia, Turkey, Georgia and Ukraine.
• A web-based consultation was hosted (10-25th August) on the draft outcome document, dated 9 August 2017, to be adopted at the forthcoming WHO Global Conference on NCDs.
• The Global Alliance for Vitamin A (GAVA), composed of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HKI, NI and UNICEF, held its annual meeting on 28-29th August in Atlanta.
• A technical consultation on biochemical indicators for assessing vitamin A status was organized by UNICEF and other partners of the Global Alliance for Vitamin A (GAVA) at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta (29th August).
• UNICEF and the EAT Foundation convened a 1-week meeting on Children Eating Well at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center (Italy) in late August. The meeting examined links between the global food system and child diets as well as related research and action priorities.
• On 11-15th September, UNICEF organized an Implementation Research Protocol Development Workshop in Johannesburg to inform policy and programme actions for nutrition and health interventions among children under five e.g. vitamin A supplementation.
• The SUN Lead Group met on 18th September at the UNICEF House in New York.
• A CFS intersessional event took place on 22nd September in Rome on Achieving the 2025 Global Target for Stunting: Investing in Food Systems to Prevent Stunting. As part of the event, a panel discussion was held on: “Achieving the 2025 Global Target for Stunting: opportunities and challenges for the UN within and beyond food systems” with participation of FAO, IFAD, WFP and WHO.
• Various regional symposia on sustainable food systems for healthy diets were held following the international symposium last December, jointly organized by FAO and WHO.
  • Latin America: 5-7th September in San Salvador (co-organized by FAO & PAHO/WHO)
  • North America: 24-27th September in Québec City (FAO co-organised with the Government of Quebec)