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From 15-17 October 2016, the Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Alliance in Pakistan (SUNCSA-Pak) launched the first phase of their #InvestInNutrition campaign with support from the Micronutrient Iniative. The campaign coincided with World Food Day which helped to further catalyse attention towards advocacy efforts in Pakistan.

On 11 October 2016, the 2016 Global Hunger Index (GHI) was launched at an event in Brussels hosted by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Alliance2015. The 2016 GHI, authored by Alliance2015 members, Concern Worldwide, Welthungerhilfe and IFPRI, is the eleventh in an annual series. The report demonstrates that real progress has been made in reducing hunger since the UN Millennium Development Goals were announced, but that the current pace of reducing hunger will not be fast enough to reach the Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger by 2030. It also lays out policy recommendations to make Zero Hunger a reality for everyone.

Whilst nutrition remains a pertinent global issue, some countries are making gains in reducing the burden of undernutrition. There are many well documented approaches and frameworks, guiding national decision makers and practitioners to improve policies and programmes, but often it is the stories from the ground which give an insight into what is working in a particular context and why. This is the basis for the Stories of Change in Nutrition (SoC) research project, which aims to capture experiential learning from policy makers and implementers in countries with high burdens of malnutrition to understand how changes in nutrition outcomes were achieved in particular contexts.

On 5 October 2016, the new Lancet Series, “Advancing Early Childhood Development: from Science to Scale,” was launched ahead of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings. This Series considers new scientific evidence for interventions, building on the findings and recommendations of previous Lancet Series on child development (2007, 2011), and proposes pathways for implementation of early childhood development at scale.

On 17 October 2016, the United United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) launched their flagship report titled, “Policy Innovations for Transformative Change”. The report helps unpack the complexities of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in a unique way: by focusing on the innovations and pathways…

From 12-14 October 2016, the Borluag Dialogue was held in Iowa, United States, and included the award ceremony of the 2016 World Food Prize laureates; Drs. Maria Andrade, Howarth Bouis, Jan Low and Robert Mwanga. Three of the 2016 laureates – Drs. Maria Andrade, Jan Low and Robert Mwanga of the International Potato Center (CIP), which has had sweet potatoes in its research mandate since 1988 – are being honored for their work developing the single most successful example of biofortification, the orange-fleshed sweet potato.

On 6 October 2016, the World Bank Group convened a groundbreaking Human Capital Summit on the opening day of their Annual Meetings, to make the economic case for investing in the early years of children to drive future growth and development. Ministers from nine countries pledged to improve nutrition, health and education programs for young children to dramatically reduce childhood stunting and equip tens of millions of young children with the abilities they need to succeed in a fast changing world.

In September 2016, the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), comprised of over 30 UN agencies, including the 5 United Nations agencies leading the UN Network for SUN, launched a new report which captures implementation stories from 16 countries 6 months after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “The Sustainable Development Goals are Coming to Life – Stories of Country Implementation and UN Support” illustrates how these countries are beginning to integrate the 2030 Agenda into visions, strategies and plans at the national, subnational and local levels with the support of development partners.

On 10 August 2016, the Sudanese Ministry of Health, the Ministry of International Coorperation, UNICEF and WFP launched the Nutrition Investment Case for Sudan in the capital, Khartoum. It highlights that investing in nutrition provides opportunities to contribute to saving children’s lives, prevent disabilities and accelerate economic development and growth. Speakers stresses that undernutrition undermines short and long-term health, learning capabilities and decreases earning prospects by about 22 per cent.

On 21 September 2016, the SUN Movement Executive Committee met at UNICEF Headquarters in New York, United States to reflect on the inauguration of the new Lead Group and launch of the Strategy and Roadmap 2016-2020. The meeting also offered a platform for committee members to present their thoughts as to their priorities and individual contributions to the Committee.

On 21 September 2016, Sudan’s Ministry of Health organised an event in Khartoum to celebrate the launch of a 5-Year Strategy for the Health of Women, Children and Adolescents. The strategy realises the commitment of the President of Sudan in 2015 to the Global Strategy for Women’s,…

On 13 September 2016, a seminar was held in Pretoria, South Africa, to showcase the results of a new report by the NEPAD Agency and the Pardee Center for International Futures titled, “Ending hunger in Africa: Conditions for success”. The report analyses the “conditions for success” if Africa is to achieve the target set by African Union in Agenda 2063 and the 2014 Malabo Declaration on agriculture transformation. The study puts the magnitude of the task into perspective and highlights the major levers in policy, investment, technology as well as human and institutional capacity needed to sustain access to food.

On 6 September 2016, during the African Green Revolution Forum, the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, in partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), brought together leaders in agriculture, nutrition and health at a High-Level Roundtable meeting. The…

From 5-9 September 2016, the 2016 African Green Revolution Forum was held at the UN offices in Nairobi, Kenya under the theme: Seize the moment: Securing Africa’s rise through agricultural transformation. The gathering is a collective opportunity to highlight the best elements of Africa’s agriculture and the changes that are allowing farming families to lift themselves out of poverty by embracing farming as a business.

In 2016, following the 2015 Global Forum on Nutrition-Sensitive Social Protection Programs, a background paper, which originally served as a springboard for discussion at the Forum, was shared on SecureNutrition and represents a synthesis of evidence from nearly 120 references with a heavy focus on program evaluations….

On 23 September 2016, the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition (GLOPAN) published its new report, Food systems and diets: Facing the challenges of the 21st century. This evidence-based report is designed to help policymakers make their food systems more supportive of high quality…

From 15-16 September 2016, a donor round table was held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, to mobilise resources for the implementation of the Côte d’Ivoire National and Multisectoral Nutrition Plan (2016-2020). The nutrition plan was adopted at an event chaired by President Alassane Ouattara in May this year. Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Finance and Budget, Daniel Kablan Duncan opened the event and welcomed over 300 participants, including SUN Movement Coordinator, Ms Gerda Verburg.

In September 2016, the inter-agency team (UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank Group) released new joint estimates of child stunting, overweight, underweight, wasting and severe wasting which reveal that the number of stunted children under 5 has dropped by 3 million. Key findings include that…

On 13 September 2016, the 71st regular session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) opened at UN Headquarters in New York, giving way to two weeks of high powered events aimed towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The theme of the annual general…