Update on progress with the Strategy for SUN 3.0 – A message from the Executive Committee

Following careful preparation and very wide consultation with SUN members and stakeholders, we are very pleased to tell you that the Strategy has now been agreed by the Executive Committee. The document agreed by the ExCom is now being professionally edited and will proceed to the Lead Group discussion and decision in early December. The approved Strategy will become available throughout the Movement as soon as possible after that meeting  and this will then be the basis for implementation as we begin to operationalise the agreed priorities.

To remind everyone, the process of reviewing the draft Strategy has involved extensive discussion and reflection and a very transparent and inclusive process. As you are aware, the process, which started in early 2020, has built on the Independent Comprehensive Evaluation (ICE), the Mid-Term Review (MTR), the Strategic Review (SR) and the SUN Global Gathering (SUNGG19). A draft strategy was developed under the guidance of the Executive Committee with extensive inputs from SMS and the networks, and shared for movement-wide consultation on the SUN website during the month of August, whereby it benefitted from the scrutiny, questions, and suggestions provided from all countries and regions, and across the Movement through the Networks, and the wider membership. In late August, it was presented to the Lead Group who provided valuable, additional perspectives that helped to shape and guide further thinking by the ExCom. All inputs from the consultation were reviewed and discussed in depth by the ExCom and revisions to the draft Strategy have been completed during October.

All of this work has been a vital and timely response to the challenges that we all face because of pandemic, climate crises, and conflict. We celebrate the actions that have been taken during the first ten years of the SUN Movement and the Strategy builds on SUN 2.0. Key highlights for the SUN 3.0, agreed by ExCom and reflecting the purposes of SUN now include:

• Focus on countries and their priorities for achieving results and impact, and evidence for improved nutrition on the ground
• Increasing alignment of all stakeholders to priorities determined at national and sub-national levels and responding effectively to these needs
• Engaging with the private sector to tackle growing global needs for improved nutrition
• Promoting women and youth leadership in bringing about changes in access to improved nutrition
• Harnessing the energies of all stakeholders in the Movement through clearer, stronger governance approaches and mutual accountability

We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this process for their help in shaping the Strategy, and for providing consideration and energy in helping to develop the priorities for the SUN Movement over the next five years.

It has been inspiring to witness the dedication and shared commitments of many, many people throughout the Movement and we believe that the process of developing the strategy provides a solid basis for bringing together the energy, resources, and influence of all stakeholders in meeting the needs and hopes of the communities and people most at risk of malnutrition.

Once the SUN 3.0 strategy is approved by the Lead Group, we will post it on the SUN webpage for wider dissemination and the exciting next step of operationalisation and implementation will begin. We are excited about the future and to the continuing and growing importance of the SUN Movement in meeting these challenges together.

Meera Shekar – (SUN Executive Committee Chair)

Tumaini Mikindo – (SUN Executive Committee Vice-Chair)