Entries by UNSCN Secretariat

Launch – Global Panel Foresight Report 2.0: Future Food Systems: For people, our planet, and prosperity

29th September 2020 | 2PM CEST 

Register here

The report: Future Food Systems: For people, our planet, and prosperity assesses the developing crises that relate to malnutrition, the dysfunctional relationship between food systems and the natural environment, and also the lack of resilience of food systems – highlighted most recently by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the latest science and evidence, the report identifies the systemic policy failures that are behind these interlinked crises and sets out the essential steps which need to be taken so that food systems can transition to become fit for the future. Importantly, the advice and recommendations are grounded in the realities of policy development-resource constraints, competing priorities and inevitable trade-offs – particularly in low- and middle-income countries. 

The report makes an urgent call for action by the Global Panel to leaders and other decision-makers concerned with diets and nutrition, health, and the natural environment. 

The launch will be of interest to both public and private sectors,  donors, investors, researchers, international organisations and civil society.  Join the event for a panel discussion on the report, and the priorities for action on making sustainable, healthy diets and nutrient-rich foods accessible, affordable and available to all.

Webinar discussion on COVID-19 and global malnutrition

Thu, September 24, 2020 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM CEST

Register here

This event will highlight the impact of COVID-19 on malnutrition conveyed by the Standing Together for Nutrition (STfN) consortium. With worrying increases in child wasting and child death as a result of the pandemic, the heads of four UN agencies have put forward an urgent call to action. It will be discussed how the international community can respond to this call for action, move forward to mitigate the damage and protect children’s right to nutrition in the face of this pandemic.

The event is co-sponsored by the Governments of Bangladesh and Canada, and organised by GAIN and Micronutrient Forum (MNF), co-leads of the Standing Together for Nutrition (STfN) Consortium.

UNGA Side event – UN Inter-Agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases: working with Member States to deliver the NCD-related Sustainable Development Goal targets during and beyond COVID-19

Thursday, 24 September 2020 - 10 AM (NY time)
Virtual event - Register here

This UNGA side-event will review the current work of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on NCDs (UNIATF) and agree on the ways to provide more effective UN system support to enable countries scale up their responses to NCDs during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Follow live on UN web TV 

Share on social media #fotf #fotf2020 

 

Webinar: Food-based approaches to reduce anaemia

Food-based strategies have the goal of improving nutrition through increasing the availability and consumption of a nutritionally adequate micronutrient rich diet made up of a variety of safe, affordable nutritious foods.

Fortification, biofortification and improved dietary practices are considered important food-based strategies to reduce anaemia due to iron and other nutritional deficiencies.

Please join us in this webinar where we will discuss the status of these interventions globally and how they can be combined by countries to achieve the global target of halving anaemia in women by 2030.

Webinar panel:
Dr Nancy Aburto, Food and Nutrition Division, FAO
Ms Kristina Michaux, Harvest Plus
Dr Anjali Bhardwaj, Nutrition International

 

When: Thursday, 24 September 2020
Time: 9:00 -10: 15 am, EST

Nutrition-sensitive investments in agriculture and food systems. Budget analysis guidance note

This publication outlines methods and actions for countries to monitor nutrition-related spending. It will contribute to understanding the importance and opportunities for countries to use costing and tracking their nutrition-sensitive investments in agriculture and food systems. The lessons outlined here focus on the implementation of national nutrition plans to sustain results and impact, with attention to decisions influencing the budget planning and analysis for nutrition.

This budget analysis guidance note was written by FAO in collaboration with the SUN Movement Secretariat and with substantial contribution from the UN Network, Results for Development and MQSUN+. 

For more information visit: http://www.fao.org/nutrition/policies-programmes/enabling-environment-for-improved-nutrition/en/ 

Global Goals Week

18-26 September

An annual week of action, awareness, and accountability for the Sustainable Development Goals.

The countries of the United Nations made a universal promise to leave no one behind in achieving a peaceful and prosperous world by 2030. Global Goals Week is a shared commitment of partnership between civil society, business, academia and the UN system to push action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially during the UN General Assembly High-level Week. It is also an opportunity to speak out as one voice, share ideas and transformative solutions in the fight to build back better from global challenges.

More information at: https://globalgoalsweek.org 

Technical webinar – Sustainable Food Value Chains for Nutrition

Wednesday 16 September 2020 | 14:30 - 16:00 CEST 

Register here

This international technical webinar is part of the series organized by the FAO eLearning Academy, Agreenium (l'Institut agronomique, vétérinaire et forestier de France) and UN-ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific). These webinars are an opportunity for all of us to share experiences and lessons learnt, discuss challenges, and propose innovative solutions and models. They aim to provide a holistic and comprehensive view of current trends in thematic areas related to global challenges, by combining development research and innovation perspectives.

The main objective of these technical webinars is to give practitioners the opportunity to interact with international experts, United Nations officers, University professors, researchers and fellow participants, throughout the world. Webinars can be attended as interactive online sessions on Zoom, where sharing perspectives and asking questions to experts is encouraged. These sessions are also recorded and therefore available at any time, through the FAO elearning Academy: elearning.fao.org.

OBJECTIVES OF THIS SESSION

• Present the work that the RBA working group is doing on sustainable food value chains for nutrition
• Provide a comprehensive overview on the e-learning course on Sustainable Food Value Chains for Nutrition
• Introduce country experiences in designing sustainable food value chains using this approach

Global Week for Action on NCDs

The annual Global Week for Action on NCDs campaign draws on outrage, energy, inspiration, determination and optimism to focus efforts on ensuring NCD prevention and control get the attention and action they deserve.

Join the movement

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the #1 cause of death and disability in the world, accounting for 70% of all deaths and more than three out of four years lived with a disability - and many NCDs are preventable and premature. Driven largely by five modifiable risk factors – tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol and air pollution, NCDs are exacerbated by weak healthy systems, under-investment, and lack of accountability, and actions to reduce their impact on people’s lives require a whole of society approach. NCDs are a major cause (and consequence) of poverty, and the largest NCD burden occurs in low- and middle- income countries.

More info at: https://www.actonncds.org/en 

Webinar series – Nutrition in a Digital World

5 November 2020 - Episode 1
19 November 2020 - Episode 2 
3 December 2020 - Episode 3  (Register Here )
17 December 2020 - Episode 4 (Register Here)

Event flyer

The Internet and other digital technologies are drastically changing the world we live in. Information and data are being produced, shared, used and consumed at a continuously accelerating speed, and people and services are more and more inter-connected.

Digital technologies are being applied throughout the food system, influencing the ways people interact with it and potentially redefining their food environments. The digital world potentially affects not only underlying and immediate causes of malnutrition in all its forms, but also its root causes, and our ability to address them. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has yet again illustrated this.

The webinar series “Nutrition in a Digital World”, comprises four thematic sessions promoted by UNSCN/UN Nutrition that aim to raise awareness on the risk-benefit duality of the digital world in improving nutrition, helping achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

This webinar series intends to continue the conversation about this quickly evolving topic, building upon UNSCN 45 - Nutrition in the Digital World, published in July 2020. 

 

EPISODE ONE | Thursday, 5 November 2020, 13:00-14:30 (CET) - The challenges of digital food marketing

Moderator: Stineke Oenema, UNSCN Coordinator
Panelists: Kathryn Backholer, Kremlin Wickramasinghe, Vivica Kraak, Joao Breda, George Rapsomanikis

EPISODE TWO | Thursday, 19 November 2020, 15:00-16:30 (CET) - The opportunities and risks of digital technologies in nutrition behaviour change and capacity building

Moderator: Sabrina Ionata Granhein, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
Panelists: Inka Barnett, Fernanda Ferreira dos Santos, Archana Sarkar, Alessandro R Marcon, Srujith Lingala

EPISODE THREE | Thursday, 3rd December 2020, 17:00-18:30 (CET) - Digital solutions for data driven decision making, to help improve nutrition of vulnerable groups and to address inequalities 

Register Here

Moderator: Denise Coitinho, UNSCN Senior Consultant
Panelists: Joseph Tinarwo, Nathaniel Jensen, Niyati Parekh, Zeina Makhoul, George Kent

EPISODE FOUR | Thursday, 17 December 2020, 14:00-15:30 (CET) - Digital solutions for nutrition sensitive programming

Register Here

Moderator: Stineke Oenema, UNSCN Coordinator
Panelists: Raul Saenz, Bin Liu, Jenny Walton, Susan Keino, George Rapsomanikis

Call for experts – WHO initiative to estimate the global burden of foodborne diseases

Deadline: 31 October 2020

Background

Foodborne diseases are a major cause of human morbidity and mortality. According to the global estimates from the WHO Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG 2007-2015), foodborne diseases caused 600 million illnesses, 420,000 deaths, and 33 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) in 2010. Foodborne diseases disproportionately adversely impact children. According to the WHO FERG estimates, although children <5 years of age represent only 9% of the global population, 40% of the foodborne disease burden is borne by children in this age group. There are also considerable differences in the burden of foodborne diseases among sub-regions with the highest burden of per population observed in Africa.

The First International Conference on Food Safety (Addis Ababa, 12–13 February 2019) and the International Forum on Food Safety and Trade (Geneva, 23–24 April 2019) reviewed the status of food safety globally and identified new and emerging challenges. One of such challenges highlighted in these conferences was the importance of improving the evidence base for food safety decisions through systematic monitoring of foodborne hazards, surveillance of foodborne diseases, and an estimation of the public health and economic burden of foodborne diseases.2

At 146th Session of the WHO Executive Board meeting held on 3-8 February 2020 in Geneva, Switzerland, the Board discussed food safety under the agenda item 19, “Accelerating efforts on food safety” (EB146/25) and recommended the adoption of a resolution on “Strengthening efforts on food safety”(WHA73.5). The Seventy-third World Health Assembly adopted this resolution, which requests  WHO to monitor regularly, and to report to Member States on, the global burden of foodborne diseases at national, regional and international levels, and in particular to prepare, by 2025, a new report on the global burden of foodborne diseases with up-to-date estimates of global foodborne disease incidence, mortality and disease burden in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

Based on the above, high interests from scientific communities, and WHO’s new vision to show a measurable impact in countries, WHO plans to update the global burden of foodborne diseases, and aims to deliver a second global report by 2025

Objective of the call

The objective of the call is to identify qualified experts who are willing to serve as a member of the advisory group, “Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG)”, for an initiative to estimate the global burden of foodborne diseases. Terms of reference of the group are to: 

  • Advise WHO on the methodology to estimate the global burden of foodborne diseases
  • Review epidemiological data on foodborne disease burden
  • Identify technical gaps and priorities for research activities
  • Make recommendations to WHO on the establishment of task forces and other means through which scientific and technical matters are addressed
  • Advise WHO on the development of and the methodology to monitor food safety-related indicator(s) 

Successful candidates should meet most or all of the following qualifications: 

  • Hold an advanced university degree(s) in epidemiology, data science, health or bio-statistics, food science, risk assessment of chemicals or pathogens, knowledge translation;
  • Scientific excellence evidenced by publications in peer-reviewed journals;
  • Professional experience in burden3 of disease study in foodborne diseases, infectious diseases, or any other diseases either at sub-national, national, regional or global level;
  • Practical experiences in epidemiological modelling;
  • Ability to converse in and document in English;
  • Ability to prepare documents and spreadsheets in electronic format;
  • Ability to work with people from different backgrounds, as well as with scientists from various disciplines.

Application

Interested applicants are invited to fill out the online application form and submit a CV (no more than 10 pages in A4 format), filled Declaration of Interest (DoI), and a list of publications, no later than 31 October 2020 (CET). An applicant shall be made available by his or her employer for engaging in this WHO work and be released for an international meeting at least once a year and quarterly teleconferences. 

Criteria and process for selection of experts

The criteria for the selection of experts are the basic and essential qualifications together with the proven competence and expertise in the various areas as described above. The curriculum vitae of the applicants will be reviewed on the basis of the criteria listed above by a selection panel of three or more individuals including at least one independent, internationally recognized expert appointed by WHO. The purpose of the panel review is to determine whether the applicants meet all the essential requirements. The highly qualified individuals selected from the applicants will be used by WHO to invite experts to meetings and/or expert consultations. In selecting experts consideration will also be given, in addition to scientific and technical excellence, diversity and complementarities of scientific backgrounds, representation from all geographic regions including developing and developed countries as well as gender. 

Appointment of experts

Experts will be selected in their individual capacity on the basis of their expert knowledge to give advice on specific topics. The term "personal capacity" means that the expert is expressly expected to serve in his/her capacity as an independent expert rather than a representative of his or her employer. The views of the independent expert would not necessarily be reflective of any views and positions of his or her employer. All experts will be required to complete a Declarations of Interest form before participation in any expert meetings can be confirmed.

Experts do not receive any remuneration from the Organization. However, when attending meetings by invitation of WHO, they shall be entitled, in accordance with the administrative regulations of the Organization, to reimbursement of travelling expenses and to a daily living allowance during such meetings.

Applications should be submitted by 31 October 2020 to:

WHO focal point

Yuki Minato
WHO secretariat for the initiative to estimate the global burden of foodborne diseases
Department of Nutrition and Food Safety
World Health Organization 
Email: fbd-burden@who.int