Japan donates $8 million to boost food and nutrition security in conflict–ridden Yemen

Japan has contributed over $8 million (JPY 891,000,000) to back FAO’s work on enhancing food and nutrition security for the most vulnerable households in conflict-ridden Yemen, which is facing the world's largest humanitarian crisis. The two-year project aims to reach about 200 000 conflict-affected Yemenis.
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Investing in Breastfeeding in 2019

On 30 and 31 January 2019 join a Global Breastfeeding Collective Webinar in Support of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement to be held in English, French and Spanish.

Breastfeeding benefits everyone. Breastfeeding acts as a baby’s first vaccine, providing antibodies that give babies everywhere a critical boost. It promotes cognitive development in children, which leads to higher educational achievement and greater earnings in adulthood. Breastfeeding reduces the burden of childhood illnesses such as diarrhea and pneumonia—two of the leading causes of deaths in children under age 5 globally — lowering health care costs and creating healthier families. Breastfeeding is also important for mothers, protecting and improving their health.

Many SUN member countries have made considerable progress to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, but more needs to be done. Organised by the SUN Movement Secretariat and the Global Breastfeeding Collective, this webinar will:

  1. Introduce tools to support advocacy efforts in SUN member countries.
  2. Inform SUN Government Focal Points and members of multi-stakeholder platforms about the work of the Global Breastfeeding Collective, its Call to Action and tools to support advocacy. 
  3. Share country experiences of successful breastfeeding advocacy efforts to affect policy changes, increase investment in breastfeeding programmes and improve quality of care and support to mothers, and describe challenges encountered.
  4. Encourage action in countries to improve breastfeeding policies and programmes as per the Global Breastfeeding Collective Call to Action based on the lessons learned.

To RSVP to the Webinars please see the links below:

January 30 (Wednesday)
• Webinar 1 (English): Asia 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (CET) >  http://bit.ly/breastfeeding2019rsvp1
• Webinar 2 (English): Africa 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. (CET) >  http://bit.ly/breastfeeding2019rsvp2
 
January 31 (Thursday)
• Webinar 3 (Français): Africa 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (CET) >  http://bit.ly/breastfeeding2019rsvp4
• Webinar 4 (Español): Latin America 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (CET) >  http://bit.ly/breastfeeding2019rsvp3

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FAO and France Médias Monde strengthen their partnership

FMM’s three channels (RFI, France 24, Monte Carlo Doualiya), that regularly produce features and reports on themes related to food and agriculture and global health challenges, have recently broadcast, via their digital and TV platforms, FAO video spots.
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Transforming the food system to fight non-communicable diseases

Malnutrition and unhealthy diets are important risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Francesco Branca and colleagues call for changes in both what and how food is produced, marketed, and consumed in their latest articleTransforming the food system to fight non-communicable diseases.

Key messages

  • Poor quality diets, malnutrition in all its forms, and NCDs are closely linked. Unhealthy diets are now the biggest risk factor for NCDs
  • Poor quality diets, malnutrition, and NCDs are the logical consequences of, among other factors, major changes to how food is produced, sold, marketed, and consumed around the world in the past half century
  • Transformation of current food systems to improve availability, affordability, and uptake of nutritious, safe, affordable, and sustainable diets is key to tackling malnutrition in all its forms and diet related NCDs
  • Policy options to tackle the different forms of malnutrition and diet related NCDs can also help create food systems that are sustainable, benefitting planetary health
  • The United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition, along with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and Goals, are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to simultaneously and cost effectively improve diets, eliminate malnutrition, reduce death and disability from NCDs, and promote sustainable development

Download the full article here.

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Africa Center for Climate and Sustainable Development inaugurated in Rome

A major focus on boosting the agricultural sectors in Africa is needed to ensure a better future for the continent’s youth who, if given the chance, can be the drivers of development, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said while inaugurating the Africa Center for Climate and Sustainable Development.
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SUN Executive Committee meeting

28-29 January 2019
Geneva, Switzerland

As part of the SUN Movement’s stewardship arrangements, the SUN Movement Executive Committee acts on behalf of the SUN Movement Lead Group to oversee the development and implementation of the Movement’s strategy.

More info available here

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Conflict-driven hunger worsens

The situation in the eight places in the world with the highest number of people in need of emergency food support shows that the link between conflict and hunger remains all too persistent and deadly, according to a new report released today by FAO and WFP for the UN Security Council.
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The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition, and Climate Change: The Lancet Commission report

Malnutrition in all its forms, including obesity, undernutrition, and other dietary risks, is the leading cause of poor health globally. In the near future, the health effects of climate change will considerably compound these health challenges. Climate change can be considered a pandemic because of its sweeping effects on the health of humans and the natural systems we depend on (ie, planetary health). These three pandemics—obesity, undernutrition, and climate change—represent The Global Syndemic that affects most people in every country and region worldwide. They constitute a syndemic, or synergy of epidemics, because they co-occur in time and place, interact with each other to produce complex sequelae, and share common underlying societal drivers.

This Commission recommends comprehensive actions to address obesity within the context of The Global Syndemic, which represents the paramount health challenge for humans, the environment, and our planet in the 21st century.

To access The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition, and Climate Change Hub page at The Lancet, click here. For the full report, click here. 

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IAEA’s Nutritional and Health-Related Environmental Studies Newsletter – January 2019 edition

The 9th Nutritional & Health-related Environmental Studies Newsletter features the following articles.

Meeting outcomes

  • International Symposium on Understanding the Double Burden of Malnutrition for Effective Interventions
  • Stable isotopes and the double burdens of disease and malnutrition: reflections from the 8th African Nutritional Epidemiology Conference
  • 62nd IAEA General Conference: Botswana shares results on body composition and anaemia among children living in malaria prone-areas
  • Interregional project (INT/6/058) using stable isotopes to improve the evidence base for stunting reduction programmes worldwide

New publications

  • IAEA Brief: Stable Isotope Techniques Help to Address the Double Burden of Malnutrition
  • IAEA Video: Improving Health with Atomic Precision in Mauritius
  • IAEA Doubly Labelled Water Database
  • Assessment of Zinc Metabolism in Humans Using Stable Zinc Isotope Techniques
  • Body mass index vs deuterium dilution method in African children
  • IAEA’s role in fighting micronutrient malnutrition

Success stories

  • A nuclear technique helps Seychelles to identify key drivers of overweight and obesity in school children

This edition also features a NAHRES Special article entitled The future of food systems by the UNSCN.

You can download you copy here.

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FAO calls for policies and investments targeting sustainable water use in the Middle East and North Africa

It is imperative to scale up policies and investments in the Middle East and North Africa to make water use in agriculture more sustainable and efficient and to ensure that all the people in the region have access to healthy diets, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today.
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IAEA Brief: Stable Isotope Techniques Help to Address the Double Burden of Malnutrition

To be in good health, individuals require nutritious food, high-quality water, physical activity, adequate sleep, and a living environment devoid of germs and toxic contaminants. An imbalance in any of these factors may manifest in one or more forms of malnutrition including being undernourished or becoming overweight or obese. 

The term double burden of malnutrition (DBM) connotes a situation where at least two or more forms of malnutrition coexist at individual, household, or national levels and at different points in an individual’s life. The IAEA supports countries in applying stable isotope techniques to assess key indicators associated with the DBM and to evaluate the impact of corrective actions to address it, thereby contributing to evidence-based policy formulation.

To learn more about their work, and to download your copy of the IAEA Brief: Stable Isotope Techniques Help to Address the Double Burden of Malnutrition, visit here.

 

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Nutrition Exchange – Issue 11/ January 2019

Issue 11 of Nutrition Exchange features some common themes of networks and coordination for nutrition, including a short article on the commitments made by Brazil, Ecuador and Italy under the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (available at pages 28-29).

Nutrition Exchange is an ENN publication that contains short, non-technical and easy-to-read articles on nutrition programme experiences and learning, from countries with a high burden of undernutrition and those that are prone to crisis. It also summarises research and provides information on guidance, tools and upcoming trainings in nutrition and related sectors. It is published twice per year and one issue is dedicated to Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement related learning and experiences of scale up which is facilitated by the ENN SUN Knowledge Management Project regional and Global team.  

NEX is available in English, French, Arabic and Spanish. 

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