United Nations System
Standing Committee on Nutrition

 

Report of the Sub-Committee on Nutrition at its Twenty-Fifth Session

II.  Work in Progress:  Summary of Discussion and Conclusions

A.  Advisory Group on Nutrition (AGN) Report

  1. The Chair of the Advisory Group on Nutrition (AGN) explained that the AGN held two meetings last year. The first was in Kathmandu and the second  in Montreal in July on the occasion of the IUNS Conference.  As  AGN members were traveling to the IUNS Conference anyway, costs to the SCN budget were very much reduced.

  2. The AGN Chair presented results of the Montreal meeting where the AGN:

  • reviewed material for the anthropometry chapter of the Third Report on the World Nutrition Situation;

  • considered issues related to a World Bank proposal - the Africa Nutrition Database Initiative;
  • worked on establishment of the Commission on Nutrition Challenges for the 21st Century, including a framework for direction of the Commission's efforts;
  • discussed with Commission members the process and content of the planned work, and in an open public  forum obtained preliminary reactions to the outline of work.
  1. The AGN Chair explained that the AGN worked closely with the SCN Secretariat to identify Commission members, and reviewed contents of the Commission's work. It was stressed that the AGN is responsible to and is a structural component of the SCN. The Commission, on the other hand, has a specific task and will not continue to function in its current form once that task is completed.
  2. One AGN member (Dr Jak Jervell) presented main findings of the AGN's country visits over the past year.  Opportunities were taken to enquire and learn about coordination among UN agencies at the country level, during visits to two countries. These visits were planned in conjunction with other travel, i.e., at no cost to UN system. The AGN members found that while there was often considerable coordination and cooperation, it was on an ad hoc basis, and worked best in acute emergency situations. This observation underlined the need for capacity building and a common approach in countries. It was suggested that strong leadership from a national nutrition council (for example) would be a step forward in some countries.
  3. The AGN felt the trips were useful to discuss coordination and should continue. More publicity might be a useful way to create awareness of nutrition during these visits. The AGN were cautioned not to take too superficial a view of country-level coordination since bilaterals and NGOs, important actors in some countries, do not fall within the UN Resident Coordinator system.  The need for agreement on what problems to address during these visits was emphasized.  It was agreed that AGN members take advantage of other opportunities to visit more countries focusing on those with successful experiences in country coordination.  Countries might be selected from amongst those participating in the UNDAF pilot scheme. It was stressed that the purpose of the visits would be to provide constructive help, not to conduct an evaluation.
  4. In order to try to answer the question "What can be done to reduce malnutrition globally: speed the rate of decline and/or reverse the increase noted in some regions?" the AGN reviewed a number of documents to identify approaches that were successful. Documents chosen were flagged by SCN member agencies. The 1943 Hot Springs Conference Report was cited as a visionary document by the AGN with poverty identified as a root cause for malnutrition. Agricultural, food and nutrition, and health links were very clearly made, and this was the basis for the founding of FAO.
  5. More recently published documents highlighted similar themes, such as:
  • gender issues;
  • environmental issues and sustainable agriculture;
  • nutrition as outcome but also as input into human capital development;
  • multi-faceted approach to nutrition and food security;
  • orientation to food-based strategies;
  • nutrition education.
  1. SCN members suggested that a wider range of documents could be reviewed by the AGN including:  material on the household and community-based component of IMCI (UNICEF and WHO), "The Care Initiative" (UNICEF), and "Ending the Inheritance of Hunger" (WFP).
  2. The AGN reviewed a paper prepared by FAO on using Food Balance Sheets (FBS) to determine the micronutrient content of food supplies.  This was a very useful exercise, since some ideas to strengthen the FBS methodology were identified and opportunities to incorporate new information in the FBS methodology became clear.  However, it was agreed that using FBS to calculate micronutrient availability figures is premature, moreover the figures could be misinterpreted. The collaboration between the AGN and FAO was useful, and should continue in order to further strengthen general FBS methodology.