What we do

On 1st of April, the GA proclaimed the Decade of Action on Nutrition, 2016-2025.

UNSCN, together with its members, welcomes this important step towards mobilising action to eradicate malnutrition in all its forms in all countries.
  
The Decade of Action on Nutrition is a commitment of Member States to undertake ten years of sustained and coherent implementation of policies and programmes, following the recommendations and commitments of the ICN2 Framework for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Decade will increase visibility of nutrition action at the highest level and ensure coordination, strengthen multi-sectoral collaboration, create synergies and measure progress towards sustainable food systems and food and nutrition security for all.

Why do we need a Decade of Action on Nutrition?

Progress to reduce undernourishment and micronutrient deficiencies has been far too slow and uneven across regions, countries and populations groups. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing in nearly all countries. On the other end, 793 million people remain chronically undernourished, 159 million children under 5 years of age are stunted, approximately 50 million children under 5 years are wasted, over two billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies and 1.9 billion people are affected by overweight of which around 500 million are obese.

The resolution recognises the need to eradicate hunger and prevent all forms of malnutrition worldwide.

The Decade of Action on Nutrition will provide an umbrella for a wide group of actors to work together to address these and other pressing nutrition issues in order to achieve the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda.

The General Assembly call upon WHO and FAO to lead the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition, in collaboration with the World Food Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the United Nations Children's Fund, and to identify and develop a work programme, using coordination mechanisms such as UNSCN, the UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition.

Michel Mordasini, Chair of the UNSCN: “UNSCN stands ready to work along with WHO, FAO in collaboration with IFAD, WFP, UNICEF and other UN agencies, to make the Decade a success!”

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Implementing the Framework for Action

The Rome Declaration on Nutrition reaffirms the right of everyone to have access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food, and governments committed to preventing malnutrition in all its forms, including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity. The Framework for Action recognizes that governments have the primary role and responsibility for addressing nutrition issues and challenges, in dialogue with a wide range of stakeholders. Building on the Declaration's commitments, the Framework sets out 60 recommended actions that governments may incorporate into their national nutrition, health, agriculture, education, development and investment plans and consider when negotiating international agreements to achieve better nutrition for all.

Turning the Recommendations in the Framework for Action into Initiatives

As WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, and FAO Director-General, Dr José Graziano da Silva said, “it is our responsibility to transform commitment into concrete results.”

The UNSCN developed three technical discussion papers as the first part of a project funded by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany through the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). These papers are used as a basis to discuss selected ICN2 recommendations and suggest concrete and context specific nutrition-based initiatives in different countries. 

• Discussion Paper - Enhancing Coherence between Trade Policy and Nutrition Action
• Discussion Paper - Investments for a Healthy Food System
• Discussion Paper - Nutrition Impact Assessment Tool

Read more:
ICN2: Second International Conference on Nutrition

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) was set up in 1974 as an inter-governmental body to serve as a forum in the United Nations System to review and follow up food security policies.

The vision of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is to be the most inclusive international and intergovernmental platform for all stakeholders to work together in a coordinated way to ensure food security and nutrition for all. CFS reports to the UN General Assembly through ECOSOC and also to FAO Conference. UNSCN has been a member of the CFS Advisory Group since 2010, recognising UNSCN's special role as facilitating coordination in the UN, with its own stakeholder consultation mechanisms.

As a participant in the Advisory Group to the CFS Bureau, and through its participation in technical task teams supporting CFS work, UNSCN will continue to play the role of nutrition advocate, communicator, catalyst and bridge builder towards the CFS community and among its several stakeholders.

Through participating in the CFS, the UNSCN establishes a two-way communication avenue between the food security and nutrition constituencies by:

• Exchanging information on nutrition with the food security constituency and bringing food security considerations to the attention of the nutrition constituency;
• Encouraging and providing advice so that nutrition considerations are included in all CFS work streams;
• Bringing to the attention of the CFS Member States and other stakeholders new nutrition-related issues as they emerge;
• Avoiding duplication of efforts related to improving food and nutrition security globally.

“The Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) strongly re-affirmed everyone’s right to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food. By working together, UNSCN and CFS contribute to realize this right.” Ambassador Amira Gornass, Chair of CFS.

Read more:
CFS website
CFS brochure
CFS Engagement in Advancing Nutrition
Joint UNSCN/CFS event on “Trade and Nutrition – Opportunities and Risks”

In October 2016, members of the UN Interagency Task Force on NonCommunicable Diseases (IATF on NCDs) decided to establish a thematic working group on nutrition. As convener and member of the group, the UNSCN Secretariat articulated its work plan and deliverables.

• Improve awareness and understanding of the Right to Food and underlying factors of several forms of malnutrition and diet-related NCDs and their policy implications;
• Improve policy coherence among UN Agencies, programmes, funds and related intergovernmental organizations to ensure effective development and implementation;
• Increase coordination of policy and programme actions related to nutrition and diet-related NCDs;
• Provide support to countries and regions in developing and implementing national and regional NCD strategies and action plans, as part of a healthy environment and integrated health system.

The thematic group will be mainly active at global policy level but will contribute to the UNIATF country support in the development of policies and programmes for the prevention and control of NCDs. The working group will contribute to the implementation of the NCD action plan (2013-2020) and will work according to the principles established in the NCD work plan. Joint country missions and workshops may be organized but not to implement country programmes, which remains the domain of some of the member agencies.

Read more:
UN Inter-Agency Task Force website
UN Inter-Agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NCDs

Countries are facing complex overlays of connected malnutrition burdens that need concentrated action at the policy, health system and community levels. 88% of countries face a serious burden of either two or three forms of malnutrition and trends predict that the 1 in 3 people currently malnourished will grow to 1 in 2 people soon (GNR 2017). In 2015, the world agreed to eliminate all forms of malnutrition by 2030. To accelerate the process towards reaching this goal, the United Nations have adopted the first ever Decade of Action on Nutrition, from 2016-2025. In the years running up to 2016, several nutrition targets were agreed, including recommendations on how to reach them. Still there is a lack of progress towards their achievement. If current trends continue we will end up with more instead of less overweight people by 2030 and the elimination of anemia among women would not happen before 2080. The world needs to step up its efforts to eliminate malnutrition in all its forms. More sectors, more actors and more countries need to be involved. Not just the health sector or agriculture sector, not just low-income countries, not just people who used to work on nutrition before.

The World Health Assembly (WHA) universally agreed in 2012 to endorse a set of six global nutrition targets for improving maternal, infant and young child nutrition by 2025, specifically to: 

• Reduce by 40 % the number of children under 5 who are stunted;
• Achieve a 50 % reduction in the rate of anaemia in women of reproductive age;
• Achieve a 30 % reduction in the rate of infants born low birth weight;
• Ensure that there is no increase in the rate of children who are overweight;
• Increase to at least 50 % the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months; and
• Reduce and maintain childhood wasting to less than 5 percent. 

Currently, the world is off track to meet all six WHA global nutrition targets. For this reason, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a series of six policy briefs that are linked to each of the global targets. These briefs can guide national and local policy-makers on what actions should be taken at scale in order to achieve the targets. Recognizing that the six targets are interlinked, the purpose of the briefs is to consolidate the evidence around which interventions and areas of investment need to be scaled-up and guide decision-makers on what actions need to be taken in order to achieve real progress toward improving maternal, infant and young child nutrition.

The six policy briefs are followed by an upcoming series on seven issues relative to the implementation and equity considerations; it will be aimed at programme and project managers, but equally interesting for policy-makers who need to maintain a dialogue with managers working in the field.
Below are the briefs:

1. Stunting
2. Anaemia
3. Low birth weight 
4. Overweight
5. Breastfeeding
6. Wasting

Read more:
WHA 2025 nutrition targets webpage
WHA 2025 nutrition targets policy briefs

Identifying new and emerging nutrition-related issues is one of the UNSCN strategic objectives. Therefore, UNSCN keeps abreast of global trends and of any progress made in the nutrition field as they relate to the 2030 Agenda. The UNSCN puts its intellectual capacity at its Members disposal who can then use this as a basis to continue the dialogue amongst each other.