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DISCUSSION No. 132 • FSN Forum digest No. 1265
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Maximizing the Impact of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition
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Deadline extended until 16 October 2016
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Dear Members,
Please find below the latest contributions received to the consultation
Maximising the impact of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition
and the feedback from Christine, the facilitator.
We are approaching the final days of this lively exchange and the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN), convenor
of the consultation, is starting to take stock of the variety of ideas shared, which will feed into the elaboration of the work plan for the Decade.
For further information please visit the consultation webpage, available in all UN languages:
English,
Arabic,
Chinese,
French,
Russian and
Spanish. You can send your contribution in any of these languages to
[log in to unmask] or post them online upon registration to the
FSN Forum.
We would also like to remind you that the contributions received are available in full in the
proceedings document and that we will prepare a summary and share it with you after the closure of the consultation.
We look forward to keep receiving your ideas.
Your FSN Forum team
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Christine Campeau, facilitator of the consultation
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Dear all,
We are thrilled with the engagement we have seen over the last few weeks. Over 70 contributions from all regions and stakeholder
groups and, according to the FSN Forum, more than 10,000 visits from almost every country in the world - ll in less than one month. We’re also starting to hear how you expect to contribute to the Decade; examples included the
International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) offer to help evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition programmes and the commitment from the
Grocery Manufacturers Association to limit marketing to children in schools.
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Khairul Zarina Mohd
Yusop from Malaysia emphasized the rise of non-communicable diseases in her country, mostly due to unhealthy diets. The National Plan of Action for Nutrition for Malaysia has incorporated a whole-society and whole-government approach to tackle the
problem. Clement Goldson from Jamaica raised the idea that unsafe food should be regulated in the same way as cigarettes are, and stressed the need
for better labelling and awareness raising.
We all agree on the universality of the problem and, broadly, on solutions. Examples shared in the discussion show that,
despite the progress in reducing malnutrition - specifically undernutrition - progress has been too modest and uneven across regions, populations groups and gender. Meanwhile, the number of overweight people has increased enormously in virtually all countries
worldwide demonstrating that the several forms of malnutrition are still on the rise.
Several of you noted the role our food systems play in providing sustainable, healthy, diverse diets and suggested that
increased production is key. You’ve specified that this increase would need to focus on quality production to be able to address micro-nutrient deficiencies and would be geared towards lowering the consumption of ultra-processed foods. The global food system
- in other words, the types of foods produced and how they are processed, traded, retailed and marketed - is failing to provide adequate, safe, diversified and nutrient-rich food for all in a sustainable way. Fixing food systems, so that they are sustainable
and promote healthy diets will be vital to improving nutrition.
Food is only one part of the equation to ensure better nutritional outcomes for all, as it also includes care and universal
health systems. Lal Manavado from Norway noted that the success of food production hinges on a local context (e.g. social, trade, transport, politics,
education, communication) that is able to support and absorb the supply of wholesome food produced.
Rosaline Ntula from Ethiopia echoed this point, highlighting the need to address nutrition in every component of the food system, from production,
marketing, purchasing power, consumption and uptake.
We have heard that different forms of malnutrition can be found in the same country, the same community, the same household
and even the same person. With less than a week left for this discussion, I’m looking forward to hearing more excellent examples of your plans to contribute to the success of the Decade.
Christine Campeau
Technical Officer, UNSCN
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CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED
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Albert
Fosso, Namibian Horticulture Trust, Namibia
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According to Albert, the UN should collaborate with NGOs that are active in the field of food security and nutrition.
In addition, in every country it should establish a technical team in which the most important stakeholders are represented.
Read the full contribution
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Tricia
Callender, Spanner Strategies, United States of America
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Referring to her experiences in collaborating with other UN organizations, Tricia stresses the need to make more use
of digital platforms to reach in particular food insecure youth. Social media provides the most effective, fastest and cheapest way to engage stakeholders and to gather their ideas on how to address nutrition problems. Collaboration with like-minded organizations
would allow for an effective pooling of resources.
Read
the full contribution
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Florence
Egal, Food security and nutrition expert, Italy
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Florence argues that for the Decade to achieve its purposes, a local approach involving all actors is required. Common
principles should guide the development and implementation of local strategies, but strategies should simultaneously be context-specific, drawing on existing tools and interventions. In general, challenges to address concern the inconsistency, contradictions
and asymmetry of laws, regulations and procedures at local level and the conflict of interest underlying some nutrition interventions.
Read the full contribution
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Veronica
Kirogo, State Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Kenya
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Veronica stresses that the UN Decade should focus on the documentation and dissemination of successful food and nutrition
security interventions. Furthermore, since youth constitutes 75 percent of the Kenyan population, programmes should target this group in particular. Most Kenyans have mobile phones; mobile phone technology could thus be used for the dissemination of information
on food security and nutrition.
Read the full contribution
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Luty
Gomezcaceres Perez, Corporación Universitaria del Caribe, Colombia
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Luty points to the persistent problem of corruption in her country and argues that support should come from (international)
non-profit organizations to take charge of nutrition programmes. Direct communication with senior government officials would be necessary to ensure that food reaches those in need, and nutrition programmes should be monitored by international organizations.
Read
the full contribution
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Onoja
Ifeoma Uzoamaka, Expert in maternal and child health nutrition, Nigeria
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Onoja posts a number of suggestions on actions that should be taken in his country, including creating jobs for unemployed
people and promoting the intake of key nutrients such as iron amongst pregnant women.
Read
the full contribution
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Rengalakshmi
Raj, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, India
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Rengalakshmi believes that it is important to consider the supply side, in particular with regard to the production of
nutrient-dense foods in order to overcome protein and micronutrient deficiencies. She points out that recent studies have shown that organic and sustainable production systems promote the production of nutrient-dense food; hence, supply side issues need equal
attention.
Read
the full contribution
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Barrie
Margetts, University of Southhampton, United Kingdom
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Barrie echoes the comments of Claudio Schuftan and Florence Egal, and stresses the importance to ensure that community-based
approaches address all forms of malnutrition. He believes that one should not implement single interventions using supplementation or fortification without addressing the underlying causes of nutrition problems.
Read
the full contribution
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Nutrition
Division, Ministry of Health, Malaysia
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The Nutrition Division of the Ministry of Health of Malaysia lists several elements that need to be included in the Work
Programme, such as advocating for school and urban farming and developing strategies for behavioural change to fight obesity. Malaysia itself has been confronted with the double burden of malnutrition, and the Nutrition Division elaborates on the Malaysian
National Plan of Action for Nutrition 2016-2025, which has adopted a whole-society and whole-government approach in order to address this problem.
Read
the full contribution
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Lal
Manavado, University of Oslo affiliate, Norway
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Lal elaborates on how several sectors affect the availability of and access to healthy food, and the functioning of food
systems in general. He highlights the need for holistic and congruent policies, and believes that we rather need to focus on already existing tools than on new technologies. In addition, he argues that young people are needed to establish fair food systems
and to replace the aging agricultural population, but that their attitude towards agriculture is largely negative and that a radical change is needed in the social perception of the value of agriculture and food.
Read the full contribution
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International
Food and Beverage Alliance, Belgium
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The International Food and Beverage Alliance states that it has both an incentive and a responsibility to engage in the
global effort to improve nutrition. According to the Alliance, a multistakeholder and whole-of-society approach is needed to address nutrition problems. Aspects and activities that need to be considered regarding the Decade include: 1) government should take
the lead to ensure collaboration with non-state actors; 2) the roles and responsibilities of the actors involved should be clearly defined in an accountability framework, which also includes a monitoring and evaluation mechanism, and 3) interim targets should
be set.
Read the full contribution
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Ikenna
Ejiba, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
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Ikenna expects the UN Decade to target vulnerable people in rural areas in low-income countries. He believes that activities
should focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation and stresses the need to involve local people. Particular attention should be paid to climate change-induced migration, as this significantly affects the food and nutrition security of the people left
behind. In order to improve commitment from the actors involved, implementation and monitoring committees could be established at the local level.
Read the full contribution
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Christina
Krause, Food Fortification BASF SE, Germany
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Responding to the earlier exchange on food fortification, Christina argues that fortifying staple foods is one of the
most cost-effective interventions to tackle hidden hunger. In order to make affordable nutritious food accessible, multistakeholder alliances are crucial. Local producers can gain expertise regarding food fortification, and public authorities can standardize
food fortification levels and assess product quality. Promoting consumer awareness regarding nutrition can be done best by the engagement of multiple stakeholders. Building local multi-stakeholder alliances can be supported by Fora such as UNSCN, which can
help strengthen private and public actors’ networks.
Read
the full contribution
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