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Another Tuesday and am getting ready to go to our usual monthly Development Partners for Nutrition meeting. My days are always packed with meetings and discussions on how we development partners can improve nutrition in the country. This has been my schedule for months now, meetings, reports reviewing, field trips and more meetings. At the end of the day, am satisfied that my goal is achieved and I have fairly contributed to scale up nutrition in my country.

In May 2017, during the 2017 Global Adolescent Health Conference, the major report “Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents (AA-HA!): Guidance to support country implementation” was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO).

On 25 May 2017, SUN Movement Coordinator, Ms Gerda Verburg, along with a delegation from the SUN Movement Secretariat, travelled to New Delhi, India, and discussed nutrition results and alignment across the country with key development partners focused on nutrition.

On 24 May 2017, SUN Movement Coordinator, Ms Gerda Verburg, along with a delegation from the SUN Movement Secretariat, travelled to the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh to review progress and the path ahead for scaling up nutrition. Uttar Pradesh State joined the SUN Movement in 2016 with a letter of commitment from Chief Secretary, Alok Ranjan. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state of India and recent surveys report that 50 percent of children under five years are stunted, 34 percent are underweight, and 10 percent are wasted.

On 23 May 2017, SUN Movement Coordinator, Ms Gerda Verburg, along with a delegation from the SUN Movement Secretariat, travelled to Mumbai, in the Indian State of Maharashtra, where they met with a range of nutrition champions scaling up nutrition across the region.

From 22-31 May 2017, the 70th World Health Assembly (WHA) took place in Geneva, Switzerland, bringing together Ministers of Health and delegates from across the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 191 Member States. The WHA, which endorses the six global targets for improving maternal, infant and young child nutrition, and the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020, made significant progress on the nutrition agenda.

In May 2017, a new report on the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was published by the World Health Assembly sharing a new analysis of the current status of the BFHI in countries around the world. Based on the 2nd Global Nutrition Policy Review, implemented by WHO in 2016-2017, the report presents the implementation of the initiative 25 years after its launch.

In May 2017, the inter-agency team (UNICEF-WHO-The World Bank Group) released new joint estimates for child stunting, overweight, underweight, wasting and severe wasting (May 2017 edition) using the same methodology as in previous years. Good nutrition allows children to grow, develop, learn, play, participate and contribute – while malnutrition robs children. Despite this opportunity, the estimates from 1990 to 2017 reveal that we are still far from a world without malnutrition.

In May 2017, two new policy briefs were launched by the World Health Organization to coincide with the Seventieth World Health Assembly. The double burden of malnutrition no faces many countries worldwide – characterized by the coexistence of undernutrition along with overweight, obesity or diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

In May 2017, during the Seventieth World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization’s Ambition and Action in Nutrition 2016-2025 was launched. In the context of a renewed global momentum for improving nutrition and a resultant increased complexity of the nutrition landscape, the Programme Area Network on Nutrition developed a fit-for-purpose and coherent nutrition strategy

On the first day of the Seventieth World Health Assembly, Brazil became the first country to make SMART commitments as part of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016–2025. Ricardo Barros, Minister of Health of Brazil, made the announcement at a ceremony in Geneva. The commitments were welcomed by Dr Oleg Chestnov, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases, and Dr Carissa Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) the Regional Director for WHO in the Americas.

From 16-17 May 2017, the Global Adolescent Health Conference: Unleashing the Power of a Generation, organised by the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health, was held in Ottawa, Canada, and brought together nearly 400 development organisations and representatives from governments, academia and development from around the world.

From 22 to 26 May 2017, the African Development Bank (AfDB) held their Annual Meeting in in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, setting a new milestone for Africa-India-Asia relations. The 52nd Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the AfDB and the 43rd Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund (ADF), reviewed and endorsed the Bank’s 2016 Annual Report and its programmes for the coming year.

Feature: Nutrition at the 70th World Health Assembly. ENGLISH | FRANÇAIS | ESPAÑOL

A validation workshop for the Multisectoral Strategic Nutrition Plan (PSMN) 2016-2020, led by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, took place in Burkina Faso on 10-11 May 2017. The workshop was attended by around 60 delegates from key sectors (health, food security, social protection, education, WASH, gender, trade and economy), regional directorates and technical and financial partners including the UN/REACH global network and various SUN Movement networks.

On 11 May 2017, the government of Madagascar launched the third National Nutrition Action Plan (PNAN III) at a grand ceremony with President Hery Rajaonarimampianina. This plan takes on the recommendations of an evaluation undertaken following PNAN II, including an increased focus on multi-sectoral coordination and wider coverage – targeting 80% of those affected by malnutrition across the country.

From 7-8 May 2017, the SUN Movement Coordinator along with a delegation from the SUN Movement Secretariat visited Madagascar to reflect on progress made and the road ahead in the fight against malnutrition. Madagascar has one of the highest rates of childhood stunting in the world – Over half of children are chronically malnourished. To fight against this, Madagascar has had a long-standing high level commitment to address malnutrition and is an early-riser in the SUN Movement, joining 28 February 2012 with a letter of commitment from Jean François, the National Coordinator for the Office of National Nutrition at the time.

From 2 to 6 May 2017, SUN Movement Coordinator Gerda Verburg and a delegation from the SUN Movement Secretariat participated in a series of high level meetings to support Mozambique’s nutrition agenda. According to the Technical Secretariat for Nutritional Security (SETSAN), more than two out of five children under five living in Mozambique suffer from chronic malnutrition.

Are you looking for a new challenge? Do you want to work in a fast-paced, continuously evolving environment? Join us! The SUN Movement Secretariat is looking for three individuals to join their dynamic team based in Geneva, Switzerland.

From 30 April to 2 May 2017, SUN Movement Coordinator Gerda Verburg visited high level leaders in Lesotho to reflect on progress made and priorities for nutrition in coming months. As Lesotho heads into elections, the meetings were at an opportune moment to ensure continued high level commitment with the incoming government. The visit follows the launch of three key milestones in 2016 – the launch of the new Food and Nutrition Policy, the Cost of Hunger in Lesotho study and the launch of Lesotho’s Scaling Up Nutrition Movement.