Entries by UNSCN Secretariat

2019 Global Food Policy Report

IFPRI’s flagship report reviews the major food policy issues, developments, and decisions of 2018, and considers challenges and opportunities for 2019 at the global and regional levels.

Rural people around the world continue to struggle with food insecurity, persistent poverty and inequality, and environmental degradation. This year’s Global Food Policy Report highlights the urgency of rural revitalization to address the crisis in rural areas.

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7th International Congress on Maternal Infant Nutrition in the First 1000 Days

A child’s future health is largely determined in the first 1000 days after conception, meaning pregnancy + the first two years of childhood. Proper nutrition, birth type, breastfeeding during this period is very important and this is supported by many scientific works. Malnutrition in the first 1000 days not only leads to the risk of chronic diseases and psychiatric disorders, but also causes physical, mental and metabolic malfunctions, epigenetic changes and problems in brain development and functions. Maternal stress, unnecessary use of antibiotics or corticosteroids, and toxic exposures lead to the changes mother’s microbiota, weakens immune system, which in turn may cause increase in infections like diarrhea, pneumonia and other atopic diseases. Improper nutrition in the first 1000 days is one of the important factors that can increase mother-child death rate.

Despite all the socio-economic and cultural changes in developing countries, improper and insufficient nutrition are still remaining. Giving too many births, adolescent and late age pregnancies, time period less than two years between pregnancies, high rates of cesarean births, common use of antibiotics and glucocorticosteroids and lack of knowledge about nutrition, difficulties for reaching the essential nutrients, increased frequency of anemia and diabetes during pregnancy, increased cesarean delivery rates, even if the rate of breast feeding is high during the first 24 hours, and rapidly decreasing and early quitting of breast feeding is fairly high are problems which should be solved by us.

In line with these considerations, the “7th International Congress on Maternal, Infant, Nutrition in the First 1000 Days” will be held between 27-30 March 2019 at CVK Park Bosphorus Hotel in İstanbul, Turkey. We welcome you to view the organiser's website for more information.

LAUNCH EVENT: 2019 Global Food Policy Report

Wednesday 27 March 2019 - 12:15 PM to 01:45 PM EDT
IFPRI, Washington, DC

IFPRI’s flagship report reviews the major food policy issues, developments, and decisions of 2018, and considers challenges and opportunities for 2019 at the global and regional levels.

Rural people around the world continue to struggle with food insecurity, persistent poverty and inequality, and environmental degradation. This year’s Global Food Policy Report highlights the urgency of rural revitalization to address the crisis in rural areas.

Keynote Addresses

Rapid-Fire Presentations

A light lunch will be provided starting at 11:45am. The event will begin promptly at 12:15pm.

Register here

Unable to attend in person? Click here to watch online.

Global Food Security Symposium 2019

20-21 March 2019
Washington DC, USA

Convened annually, the Global Food Security Symposium addresses the US government's and international community’s progress on global food security and ensures that new challenges are met with action and innovation.

Since 2013, the Next Generation Delegation program has provided an opportunity for promising students to engage in symposium discussions and to interact with business and policy leaders, civil society, and social entrepreneurs working on agriculture, food, and nutrition issues.

With its focus on pathways to opportunity for the next generation, the 2019 symposium will offer key insights on how to leverage past successes, and invigorate future efforts amidst an evolving global landscape. This unique window of opportunity is a chance to help shape the next decade of leadership on global food security.

More info available here.

Report to High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

UNSCN provided input to the thematic review of the United Nations High Level Political Forum (HLPF), which is set to take place at the UN headquarters in New York from 9 - 18 July 2019. The contribution is in line with the 2019 theme “Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality” and provides guidance on how nutrition can be a connecting force between the SDGs and a catalyst to their achievement. It also emphasizes areas that require urgent attention and the need to accelerate progress in poverty eradication from a human rights-based approach.

The report is available here.

 

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63)

11-22 March 2019
United Nations HQ, New York (USA)

The sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 11 to 22 March 2019.

Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are expected to attend the session.

Themes

  • Priority theme: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;
  • Review theme: Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development (agreed conclusions of the sixtieth session)

More info available here

Banner: CSW63, The sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 11-22 March 2019

4th session of the UN Environment Assembly

11-15 March 2019
Nairobi, Kenya

The United Nations Environment Assembly is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment. It addresses the critical environmental challenges facing the world today. Understanding these challenges and preserving and rehabilitating our environment is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Under the overall theme Innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production, the 2019 UN Environment Assembly will address the following three focus areas: 

(a) environmental challenges related to poverty and natural resources management, including sustainable food systems, food security and halting biodiversity loss; 

(b) life-cycle approaches to resource efficiency, energy, chemicals and waste management; and

(c) innovative sustainable business development at a time of rapid technological change.

More info available here.

FAO’s Framework for the Urban Food Agenda: A holistic approach to ensuring sustainable development.

With unprecedented levels of urban population growth and with almost 80% of all food that is produced already consumed within urban areas, fostering resilient and economically prosperous food systems, integrated across landscapes and based on multi-stakeholder, multi-scalar and multi-sector collaboration, will be key to supporting more sustainable urbanization processes. The provision of a wide range of ecosystem services and goods including food, timber, freshwater and labour, that place social justice, ecological integrity, climate resilience and regional economic development at the centre of urban policies and planning will be essential. Investment in food system architecture and related soft infrastructure is also crucial to facilitate food flows and to strengthen rural-urban linkages.

The FAO Framework for the Urban Food Agenda aims to:

  • Guide the implementation of an urban food policy agenda that leverages untapped potential to drive sustainable food consumption and production and addresses food insecurity and malnutrition in urban areas
  • Define FAO’s guiding principles and engagement in relation to the changing food security and nutrition needs associated with urbanization and urban development, advocating for more inclusive place-based approaches that promote more equal access to sufficient, safe, nutritious and adequate food and create meaningful and secure jobs and business opportunities for small-scale food and non food-actors
  • Delineate FAO’s value-added contributions to the New Urban Agenda and to the 2030 Agenda through the provision of more effective and coordinated support that connects urban food dynamics with territorial development approaches

Launch event

Full document

Brief