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On 17 October 2016, the Government of Pakistan launched a SUN Movement Unit in Sindh Province with the presence of Minister Hazar Kahn Bijarani of the Planning and Development Department (P&DD). The Minister announced that nutrition is in the spotlight in Pakistan and together with development partners, they are fighting hard to tackle the problem of malnutrition across the country. The launch in Karachi was supported by the World Food Programme.

This Quarterly Update shares the progress made by the UN Network for SUN from July to September 2016 in accelerating the scale-up of efforts to improve nutrition. UN Network for SUN documents, communications & materials The UN Network for SUN Strategy (2016-2020) has been finalized…

SUN Business Network at the global level Advisory Group Meeting The SUN Business Network (SBN) Advisory Group held its sixth meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York City, 20th September. The meeting was attended by Advisory Group (AG) co-chairs Feike…

From 16-21 October 2016, the International Dairy Federation (IDF) Summit 2016 was held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.The IDF represents the global dairy sector and ensures the best scientific expertise is used to support high quality milk and nutritious, safe and sustainable dairy products. The event was organised by the Netherlands National Committee and had a focus on meeting the nutritional needs of the growing world population safely and sustainably.

On 13 October 2016, the European Union Delegation and World Food Programme hosted a business leaders networking cocktail event to establish the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network at the country level in Lao PDR. Among the attendees were Vice-Minister, Ministry of Health and Chair…

In September 2016, the Lancet provided an analysis of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 188 countries. To allow for easier comparison, an indexed score (SDG Index) was created for the 33 health-related SDG indicators based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015. Progress towards each indicator was scaled from 0 (worst observed value between 1990 and 2015) to 100 (best observed). As a result, Iceland tops the list with a score of 85. The lowest-scoring nation was the Central African Republic, at 20.

On 16 October 2016, World Food Day was celebrated around the world under the global theme “Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too“. Led by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the day drew attention to one of the biggest issues related to…

From 16-23 October 2016, Vietnam’s Bộ Y Tế (Ministry of Health) celebrated a national nutrition week under the theme “Nutritious and safe family meals in the context of climate change”. As part of the week, a communication campaign focused on raising community awareness on how to eat a healthy, balanced diet and ensure food hygiene and safety. It also promoted a healthy lifestyle through regular physical exercise for obesity prevention.

From 18-22 October 2016, the 2016 Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) Annual Conference was held in Accra, Ghana under the theme “Achieving a Nutrition Revolution for Africa: The Road to Healthier Diets and Optimal Nutrition”. The event was convened by the International…

Read the September 2016 Update for news from SUN Countries and around the Movement. ENGLISH | FRANÇAIS | ESPAÑOL

On 18 October 2016, Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor of Nigeria Health Watch joined Jerrilyn Mulbah of WeFM to the discuss importance of nutrition in women and children. Dr. Ifeanyi highlighted the need for proper nutrition amongst Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), pregnant women and infants and answered questions from listeners.

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.