United Nations System
Standing Committee on Nutrition

2. Orientation about the two topics in focus:

1. Bringing a human rights dimension into capacity development for nutrition
2. Addressing child obesity as a human rights issue in light of corporate food marketing practices

3. Discussion of I:
What will a human rights based approach to capacity development in nutrition imply?

• Who needs capacity development and strengthening for a human rights based approach to nutrition analyses, policies and programmes? What are the different levels where such strengthening is desirable?
• To what extent have the Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to food set new demands on capacity development in these various contexts?
• What other global and national developments and strategies call for linking capacity development to international norms and procedures for the promotion and protection of human rights, especially economic, social and cultural rights?
• How can national legislation relevant to the right to adequate food, where it exists, be made explicit use of in capacity development for nutrition?
• How can one, in practice, approach linking capacity development in nutrition to building competence in addressing the right to food and related rights at different levels and in different contexts relevant to nutrition?

• What is the wider context in which the SCN should place a discussion of the food industry as a possible actor in the etiology of obesity? What has evolved within the UN to promote a discussion of the responsibilities of transnational companies and other business enterprises in regard to human rights? Asbjørn Eide, former member of the UN Sub-Commission on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights will give a brief background orientation.
• Is there sufficient evidence of linkages between growing child obesity and certain marketing behaviour of the food industry for the SCN to go ahead with acknowledging such linkages and propose action from there? Ricardo Uauy – a brief overview of what we know today? (to be confirmed)
• Should SCN adopt a statement regarding the human right to be free from obesity and related diseases and what should be its focus and content? A draft for such a statement is available for preview before the meeting for those interested (we’ll be sent on request). Much of the discussion will circulate around a refinement of this statement for presentation at the Wednesday morning session.

• A general debate will be sparked by a brief review by the co-chairs on what the WG on Nutrition, Ethics and Human Rights has done and achieved over ten years.

• Opening and explanation of the joint session Ted Greiner, 5 minutes
• Applying a human rights approach to child malnutrition Wenche Barth Eide, 5 minutes
• Definition of malnutrition in all its forms Ricardo Uauy, 5 minutes
• Discussion 10 minutes

• Nutrition and Child survival in the International Agenda: London School meeting; Lancet series; Johns Hopkins meeting: Zulfiqar Bhuta Aga Khan University, 10 minutes
• WHO/UNICEF/SCN Oct 05 Consultation on addressing severe malnutrition in community and health services WHO, 5 minutes
• Perceptions and practices related to pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and low birth weight Kathy Kurz, ICRW, 5 minutes
• Malnutrition Task Force: Introduction Alan Jackson Univ Southampton, 10 minutes
• Progress in South and South East Asia Tamid Ahmed, ICCDR,B, 10 minutes
• Bolivia’s efforts and plans to prevent malnutrition: Ana Maria Aguilar Malnutrition Zero Program (or Minister of Health), 20 minutes
• South Africa, Progress in Sub Saharan Africa David Sanders, 10 minutes
• Discussion 15 minutes

• Report from meeting in Kobe and WHO plans for action Chizuru Nishida, 10 minutes
• The role of the food industry in the etiology of childhood obesity: can a human rights approach halt aggressive marketing practices towards children and adolescents? WG/NEHR Co-chair, 10 minutes
• UN efforts to bring a human rights perspective on the performance of transnational corporations and other business enterprises in general. Representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 20 minutes
• Presentation of draft SCN Statement: ”The human right of children and adolescents to adequate food and to be free from obesity and related diseases” WG/NHR Co-chair, 5 minutes
• Discussion and recommendation to the SCN, 20 minutes

• Low birth weight/fetal growth
• Nutrition in the elderly
• Women’s nutrition

• Opening and explanation of the joint session CD
  Co-Chairs, Profs David Sanders, University of the Western Cape, and Patrick Stover, Cornell University, 5 minutes
• Integrating human rights into capacity development in nutrition
  NEHR, Prof Wenche Barth Eide, IPRFD. University of Oslo, Co-Chair, 5 minutes

• Inauguration of the Capacity Development Network for the CEE countries – report of the outcome of the meeting in Budapest February 2006
  Mirjana Pavlovic, University of Belgrade, 20 min
• How can the UN agencies, NGO’s and states support regional priorities in capacity development such as in the CEE countries?
  General discussion, 20 min

• Southern African Capacity Development Task Force
  Prof David Sanders, University of the Western Cape, 5 min
• Asian Capacity Development Task Force
  Prof Emorn Wasantwisut, Mahidol University, 5 min
• Latin American Capacity Development Task Force
  Prof Ricardo Uauy, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA), University of Chile & London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 5 min
• Middle Eastern Development Task Force
  Prof Azza Gohar , National Nutrition Institute, Cairo, 5 min
• The African Nutrition Leadership Program
  Dr Fre Pepping, Wageningen University, 5 min
• African Graduate Student Network
  Mr Joseph Mensah-Homiah, Cornell University, 5 min
• General Discussion, 40 min

• Capacity strengthening challenges for applying the Voluntary Guidelines on the right to adequate food
  Representative of the FAO Right to Food Group, 10 min
• What are the challenges of raising human rights to food, nutrition and related health in capacity development in the CEE countries?
  Mirjana Pavlovic, University of Belgrade, 5 min
• Plans for an online Right to Food capacity building course for Brazilians and Mozambicans
  Flavio Valente, ABRANDH, 5 min
• General discussion, 15 min

• University of Hawaii
  George Kent, 5 min
• University of Oslo/Akershus University College
  Wenche Barth Eide, 5 min
• Briefs on other concrete examples invited - academic and non-academic; discussion