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In April 2017, a Global Nutrition Report (GNR) launch event was held in Japan to bring together high-level decision makers for nutrition and to continue follow up of the Nutrition for Growth Summit in London 2013. Japan is one of the world’s key providers of Official Development Assistance (ODA), including for nutrition and will host the 2020 Nutrition for Growth event.

On 22 April 2017, global leaders came together to make the investment case for nutrition at the, “Spotlight on Nutrition: Unlocking human Potential and Economic Growth” event, co-hosted by the World Bank and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID). The event included a panel of ministers and leaders, laying out how their countries and organisations plan to scale-up action on nutrition. The event was a follow up to the October 2016 Human Capital Summit on the importance of nutrition as an investment to unlock human capital and economic prosperity.

This Quarterly Update shares the progress made by the UN Network for SUN from January to March 2017 in accelerating the scale-up of efforts to improve nutrition.

On 25 April 2017, a new platform to engage the private sector on nutrition was launched in Madagascar. The new platform titled, “Anjaramasoandro”, brought together 10 founding member companies to the National Nutrition Office in Anosy. The establishment of the platform demonstrates the commitment of businesses in Madagascar to join the fight against malnutrition, aligning efforts behind government priorities.

On 19 April 2017, during a visit from the World Food Programme Regional Director for Central and West Africa Abdou Dieng President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf reaffirmed support for the ongoing government-led zero hunger strategic review exercise and the school feeding (also known as home-grown school feeding) programme.

Today, 3 May 2017, is an occasion to celebrate World Press Freedom Day, to recognise the importance of free, independent and quality journalism that can thrive when information is available to all without restrictions. Freedom of expression and freedom of information are fundamental rights and essential for sustainable development. The SUN Movement recognises that malnutrition has multiple causes and uniting the efforts of multiple sectors and stakeholders is fundamental to addressing the challenge, including the media.

Feature: The Inter-Parliamentarian Union (IPU) brought together over 1,000 delegates for the 136th IPU General Assembly under the theme “Redressing inequalities: Delivering on dignity and well-being for all”. ENGLISH

From 5-7 April 2017, various nutrition champions across Nepal came together to engage on nutrition during a visit from SUN Movement Coordinator and UN Assistant Secretary-General, Gerda Verburg.

From 9 to 12 April 2017, SUN Movement Coordinator and Assistant Secretary-General, Ms Gerda Verburg, joined high level decision makers in Pakistan to reflect on progress made and the road ahead in scaling up nutrition. The schedule encompassed a wide range of meetings and activities including workshops, ministerial meetings and a television talk show.

On May 3, 2017 at the Embrapa HQ, Brasilia, the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, in partnership with Embrapa, has organised a high-level event that brings together the research community and policy-makers to identify policies and actions of agricultural research to improve diet quality, nutrition and health outcomes in Brazil.

CHILDHOOD stunting is the physical manifestation of profound mental and developmental delays in growth. Technically, it is defined as the height for a child’s age below the fifth percentile on a reference growth curve. However, it can blight the future of a child as it lowers educational attainment and job earnings. Stunting affects a massive percentage of the world’s youth: nearly half of all children are stunted in Pakistan. Apart from particularly impaired cognitive development, stunting has staggering implications in other arenas; for instance, the GDP of countries is measurably lower.

STUNTING in Pakistan is a tragedy of epic proportions; a tragedy that we can, and must, overcome. Nearly half of Pakistan’s children — 44pc — suffer from stunted growth (National Nutrition Survey 2011). This is the third highest number of stunted children in the world.

UNSCN Discussion Paper – Global Governance for Nutrition and the role of UNSCN