Public Management

UN General Assembly 2019: Scaling Up Nutrition Lead Group meets to chart way forward

UN General Assembly 2019:  Scaling Up Nutrition Lead Group meets to chart way forward
Wednesday, 25 September 2019 18:18

Energy, passion and a lot of young people who care about nutrition” will underpin the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement’s newest phase, alongside stronger private sector engagement, members of the Lead Group heard on Tuesday.

The meeting of the group’s leaders took place at the UNICEF headquarters in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The participants met to decide on the continuation of the SUN Movement into its third phase (2021-2025) and to make commitments to achieve its key objective – to eliminate all forms of malnutrition by 2030.

The SUN Movement was launched in 2010 by the UN Secretary-General and comprises 61 countries and four Indian States. It is supported by over 3,000 civil society organizations, some 500 businesses, five UN agencies and a large group of international donors and foundations.

You are here because you care,” UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore and SUN Lead Group chairperson said. “We have made progress, not enough, but … we need to accelerate.”

Speaking on behalf of their organizations and governments, members in turn presented practical ideas and commitments for supporting the movement.

Underlining the critical role of sound nutrition, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, a Lead Group member, said the Bank would urge ministers of finance on the continent to put nutrition high on their national budgets. “We have set up a leadership group that engages the ministers of finance. Setting up nutrition country frameworks can’t be done without a minister of finance”.

Adesina said the launch of the continental nutrition accountability scorecard at the African Union Summit in February 2019 provided heads of state with a regular snapshot of progress and areas where action is needed to meet the agreed nutrition goals.

He also announced that he would be unveiling his new foundation - the World Hunger Fighters Foundation - later this year, founded with prize money from his global awards including the World Food Prize and the Sunhak Peace Prize. “The first set of Fellows, called ‘Borlaug-Adesina Fellows’, named after the late Nobel Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, who was my mentor, will be announced at the World Food Prize in Iowa next month,” he said.

Gerda Verburg UN Assistant Secretary General and SUN Movement Coordinator said raising finance was critical to filling the gap created by a decline in domestic and private sector resource mobilization.

Ultimately ministers of finance need to take it up…we need to link it to human capital,” Verburg said.

The group heard several innovative and wide-ranging initiatives. These included a handbook on nutrition for parliamentarians in Cameroon, workforce nutrition programs in Zambia and farm schools and training on garden classrooms that have enabled the Philippine government to feed 40,000 children.

Through its ‘Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation’ (TAAT) initiative, the African Development Bank and its partners have helped to scale up bio-fortification, with high-iron beans in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central Africa Republic, and the wider use of orange flesh sweet potato in Ghana and Uganda.

The nexus of water, energy, and food is very important...where we source food, how we grow it,” underlined United Arab Emirates minister of state for international cooperation Reem Ebrahim Al-Hashimy in her intervention, which emphasized partnership backed by providing context and home-grown solutions.

 In her summary of the contributions, Fiore said members had shown that the SUN Movement wished to continue into a third phase of dedication to its goals, marked by “energy, passion and a lot of young people who care about nutrition.”

Their words resonated deeply with Sophie Healy-Thow, a youth leader from Ireland. “In the past, I have been upset by promises, promises, and promises. On behalf of young people, I would like to say thank you for focusing on commitments,” she said.

The SUN movement will convene a flagship Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit in 2020 at which it will celebrate its tenth anniversary.

24968 in Agency agrf jennifer blanke agrf afdb copy 

Additional Info

  • communiques: Non
  • couleur: N/A
On the same topic
• The IMF has approved an immediate disbursement of $367 million to Ghana, bringing the total financial support provided to the country since May...
Zenith Bank is in advanced talks to acquire a tier-two bank in Kenya. The Central Bank of Kenya has raised capital requirements, triggering market...
• DPI acquires minority stake in Egypt’s largest private hospital group• Funds to support expansion across Egypt and key Gulf countries• Investment among...
WAEMU states collectively raised nearly 7,000 billion CFA francs in the first half of 2025, a record amount driven by increased financing needs, the...
Most Read
01

• Global coffee consumption projected to hit a record 169.4 million 60-kg bags in 2025/2026, up from...

Coffee: Global Consumption Expected to Reach Record Level in 2025/2026
02

• Investors seem to keep focusing on yields, which are high for the moment• New Leadership might see...

Afreximbank Bonds Retain Market Confidence Despite Moody’s Downgrade
03

• Algeria grants commercial 5G licenses to top three telecom operators: Mobilis, Djezzy, and Ooredoo...

Algeria Awards Commercial 5G Licenses
04

• ECOWAS Bank funds 47.7-km stretch of strategic 700-km road project• Lagos-Calabar highway seen boo...

Nigeria Secures $100 mln ECOWAS Bank Loan for Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway
05

• IFC teams up with AfDB and Nigeria’s EbonyLife to assess a new fund for African cinema• Sector cou...

IFC Plans Investment Fund to Help Grow African Film Industry
Enter your email to receive our newsletter

Ecofin Agency provides daily coverage of nine key African economic sectors: public management, finance, telecoms, agribusiness, mining, energy, transport, communication, and education.
It also designs and manages specialized media, both online and print, for African institutions and publishers.

SALES & ADVERTISING

regie@agenceecofin.com 
Tél: +41 22 301 96 11 
Mob: +41 78 699 13 72
Média kit : Download

EDITORIAL
redaction@agenceecofin.com

More information
Team
Publisher

ECOFIN AGENCY

Mediamania Sarl
Rue du Léman, 6
1201 Geneva
Switzerland

 

Ecofin Agency is a sector-focused economic news agency, founded in December 2010. Its web platform was launched in June 2011. ©Mediamania.

 
 

Please publish modules in offcanvas position.