On November 13th the UNIATF COVID-19 Meeting had a special session on nutrition titled ‘Nourishing the Post COVID-19 World’. Facilitated by UNSCN the session brought together representatives of the UNIATF’s Nutrition and NCDs thematic working group from FAO, UNICEF, WFP, IDLO and WHO to amplify the messages in their joint narrative on the importance of nutrition in the COVID-19 response.

See the full recording here

Presenter Slides (1.4MB)

Highlights from the Session include:

  • The interlinkages between nutrition and COVID-19 with malnutrition both a risk factor for infection severity, and at risk of intensification due to the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 and the opportunity to mitigate this impact through nourishing action by Stineke Oenema, UNSCN
  • An introduction to the Food Systems Summit 2021 and its preparatory dialogues to foster inclusion by Jamie Morrison, FAO
  • An overview of the impact of COVID-19 on breastfeeding and complementary feeding as well as the long turn consequences on the NCD Burden, including a summary of urgent actions for governments and policy makers to mitigate these risks by Fatmata Fatima Sesay, UNICEF
  • The impacts of COVID-19 and actions WFP is taking to help mitigate its impact on the nutrition of school-age children through school based programmes, by Maree Bouterakos, WFP
  • Legal perspectives on the response to the food crisis during COVID-19, including details on a pilot project in Honduras and Uganda by Giulia Zevi, IDLO
  • Results of the COVID-19 preparedness and response plans through an NCD lens by Melanie Cowen, WHO
FAO has helped Argentina, Guatemala and Sudan obtain $82 million, $66.6 million and $10 million respectively to combat deforestation and boost resilience of the vulnerable communities to climate change.