Global forum on food security and nutrition

Topic note

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world has committed to eradicate hunger and eliminate all forms of malnutrition by 2030. The UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025) proclaimed by the UN General Assembly on 1 April 2016 calls for accelerated global action to achieve this goal.

The UN General Assembly Resolution places the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition in the context of follow-up to the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2). It tasks the co-convenors of ICN2, FAO and WHO, to organise the implementation of the Decade through an inclusive and participatory process, working “with existing institutions and with available resources”. The UNSCN is supporting this effort by initiating an online discussion to collect the ideas of all relevant actors. Specifically, and taking the ICN2 outcomes as a framework, the UNSCN wants to know what elements you believe should be taken into consideration in the development of the Work Programme for the implementation of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition.

We would therefore like to invite you to share your views on how best to maximise the potential of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition. You may want to consider the following questions:

1. 
   What are your expectations for the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition and how could it make a significant difference in improving nutrition and food security of the people in your country within the next ten years?
   
2. 
   What critical activities need to be included in the Work Programme for the implementation of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition to reach the 2025 global nutrition targets? Which activities would need to be accelerated in your country to reach these targets? How could these activities be funded?
   
3. 
   What can be done to accelerate and improve the quality of commitments from the various actors? What role(s) should public and private actors play in monitoring their implementation?
   
4. 
   How can other relevant forums, such as the CFS and the UNSCN, contribute, and how can other movements (e.g. human rights, environment) be involved in the Decade?
   

This consultation is part of a wider discussion to help elaborate the Work Programme for the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition. We invite you to circulate this opportunity to the appropriate stakeholders in your country and networks to guarantee that all actors are able to engage and be connected in a meaningful way.
Thank you for your valuable contribution to this exchange.
Christine Campeau

Technical Officer, UNSCN

UN Decade of Action on Nutrition

The Decade is a global effort driven by Members States of the United Nations and convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and including other UN bodies and entities such as the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN).

Contributions received

1.Claudio Schuftan, PHM, Viet Nam

Welcome Christine Campeau!

1. The experience from past 'decades' has not been too good. We need to do better --a challenge. Significant difference will only come from public interest CSOs and social movements pushing MS to commit to action plans and then hold them accountable for it on, at least, a year-to-year basis. Changes will NOT come from above... Moreover, it is time we begin talking about food-and-nutrition-security and NOT food security and nutrition...

2. Critical is to refocus the decade on the HR framework clearly identifying claim holders and duty bearers and doing a capacity analysis of what the expected roles are that pertain to both groups. A massive HR learning process will be the only thing that will lead to this. A process of empowerment of claim holders to organize, mobilize and demand needed changes is key. Withouth this, we can anticipate little happening or just token steps 'to keep up with the Joneses' and save face in front of the intl community. Moreover, it is not for us to top-down decide priorities! It is the claim holders suffering violations of their right to nutrtion to lead in deciding priority actions.

3. This is a push or pull question. Only pulling from claim holders will move the decade ahead. UN and other intl agencies can do little to push MS to commit. History is clear about this. Forget about private sector actors being involved in empowering claim holders: counterintuitive to them.... This is why so many of us are skeptical about the SUN Initiative with is well exposed conflicts of interest. As said, CSOs have the crucial role in monitoring progress made in the progressive realization of 10 year plans to fulfil the right to nutrition. Annual benchmarks of processes-set-in-motion have to be set so that CSOs can asses progress, stagnation or retrogression on an annual basis with something like shadow reports.

4. CFS, UNSCN and others' (including the CSM) contribution to the decade is very important, BUT along the lines of what I say above. If shy on this, we will be discussing the same shortcomings by the end of the decade.

This is my personal opinion.

Claudio in Ho Chi Minh City

2.Emile Houngbo, Agricultural University of Ketou (UAK), Benin

Original contribution in French

Le sujet en question est d'un grand intérêt pour l'humanité, surtout pour l'Afrique subsaharienne reconnue comme l'une des régions les plus touchées au monde par la malnutrition. Vu que la nutrition est au coeur de la formation du capital humain nécessaire au développement, il est important d'aborder le sujet avec une démarche techniquement valide. Un simple recueil d'avis et de propositions d'activités ne donnerait pas un bon résultat à mon avis. Il en sera de même pour des actions planifiées uniformément à travers toutes les régions. Car, la nutrition a un fondement socioculturel et économique. Elle mérite donc d'être abordée différemment selon les réalités socioculturelles et économiques des diverses régions du monde. A cet effet, des études socioéconomiques préalables - ne serait-ce que des études sommaires ou au moins une revue documentaire sur le sujet - sont indispensables pour définir des actions pertinentes, planifiées, avec indicateurs valides et mesurables jusqu'à l'échéance des dix (10) ans fixés. Je suggère que dans le meilleur des cas la démarche de planification stratégique soit adoptée, avec la participation des parties principales prenantes du système de nutrtion de chaque région (ou pays) afin de révéler objectivement les vrais goulots à attaquer suivant les régions. C'est ce qui permettra de parvenir à de meilleurs résultats; soit le recul sensible de la malnutrition au bout des dix (10) ans. C'est dire que des moyens financiers et techniques sont nécessaires à mobiliser pour que des résultats tangibles soient obtenus. Des moyens doivent être déployés à plusieurs niveaux: planification des actions, définition des indicateurs, mise en oeuvre des actions, suivi-évaluation et évaluation finale du programme.

English translation

The subject in question is of great interest to humanity, in particular to Sub-Saharan Africa, recognized as one of the region most affected by malnutrition at global level. Given that nutrition is at the heart of building of the human capital necessary for development, it is important to deal with the subject with a valid technical approach. In my view, just a compilation of opinions and proposals for action will not produce a worthwhile result. It will be the same for actions planned uniformly throughout all the regions, because nutrition has a sociocultural and economic foundation. Therefore it should be approached differently according to the sociocultural and economic realities of the different regions in the world. To this effect, initial socioeconomic studies – even if only summary studies or at least a documentary review of the subject - are indispensable in order to define the relevant actions, planned with valid and measurable indicators covering a fixed period of 10 years. I suggest that the best option would be to adopt the strategic planning approach with the participation of the main parties involved in the nutrition system of each region (or country) with the task of revealing objectively the true bottlenecks to deal with in each region. This will enable better results to be achieved; i.e. the measurable reduction of malnutrition at the end of 10 years. That means that financial and technical means must be mobilized in order to obtain tangible results. Means should be deployed at different levels for: planning of actions, definition of indicators, implementation of actions, follow-up assessment and final evaluation of the program.