Working Groups (WGs) are the driving force of the SCN. Through WGs, participating agencies take an active role in the work programme of the SCN by sharing information on the latest scientific advances, identifying critical issues for further attention by SCN participating bodies and by providing advice to the Secretariat and the SCN Chair. WG chairs and co-chairs serve for about two years.
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Key contacts for Working Groups |
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Working Group |
Chair/Co-Chairs |
EMail contact address |
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Breastfeeding and Complementary Feeding
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Miriam Labbok, UNICEF |
mlabbok@unicef.org |
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Randa Saadeh, WHO |
saadehr@who.int |
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Reina Buijs, The Netherlands |
reina.buijs@minbuza.nl |
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Capacity Development in Food and Nutrition
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Cutberto Garza, UNU |
cg30@cornell.edu |
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David Sanders, U of Western |
dsanders@uwc.ac.za and lmar- tin@uwc.ac.za |
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Cape, South Africa |
schoeneberger. |
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Hans Schoenenberger, Germany |
welternaehrung@web.de |
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Household Food Security
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Kraisid Tontisirin, FAO |
kraisid.tontisirin@fao.org |
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Lawrence Haddad, IFPRI |
l.haddad@cgiar.org |
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Shakuntala Thilsted, Denmark |
thilsted@bangla.net |
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Micronutrients
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Frances Davidson, USAID |
fdavidson@usaid.gov |
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Bruno de Benoist, WHO |
debenoistb@who.int |
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Nutrition in Emergencies
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Chair: Marjatta Tolvanen, UNICEF |
mtolvanen@unicef.org |
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Secretariat: Saskia van der Kam, MSF/Holland |
saskia.vd.kam@amsterdam.msf. org |
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Nutrition, Ethics and Human Rights |
Urban Jonsson, UNICEF |
ujonsson@unicef.org |
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Nutrition and HIV/AIDS
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Andrew Tomkins, Institute for Child Health; UK Jos Perriens, WHO |
a.tomkins@ich.ucl.ac.uk |
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perriensj@who.int |
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Nutrition of School-Age Children
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Joy del Rosso, Save the Children |
jdelross@savechildren.org |
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Arlene Mitchell, WFP |
arlene.mitchell@wfp.org |
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CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION
Chaired by Cutberto Garza (UNU)
Barbara Underwood (IOM) summarized briefly the implementation of the three African regional action plans presented in Nairobi last year. The West African region has focused on the enhancement of advocacy skills in partnership with the West Africa Health Organization. Workshops are planned for July in Côte d'Ivoire and for October in Ghana. HIV and stunting/underweight are the main foci for capacity development in eastern and southern Africa. A request was made for greater involvement by the UN agencies, bilaterals and NGOs in implementing regionally driven, coordinated plans for capacity development in Africa. Presentations were given by SCN participants representing IF-PRI, UNU, the World Bank, Brazilian Forum on Food and Nutrition Security, and Norway. A theme in each of these presentations was the importance of linking training, especially specialized degree training, with relevant opportunities for retaining human resources in the regions most in need for enhanced capacity in the area of food and nutrition.
The Working Group recommended that:
· The Working Group be provided with quarterly updates of efforts to implement the African action plans presented at the 28th session in Nairobi and of new efforts in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.MICRONUTRIENTS· Regional databases (accessible through the internet or a listserve) be developed and maintained to cover activities in priority areas identified in the regional action plans that are in the early stages of planning, individual and institutional expertise in action plan priority areas, and material for training in action plan priority areas.
· Other mechanisms be explored for assuring greater collaboration among and between UN agencies, bilaterals and NGOs keeping in mind that these mechanisms should be supportive of regionally-derived and driven plans of action.
· Greater collaboration be developed among working groups whose focus includes nutrition and HIV/AIDS and nutrition in other emergencies to assure improved capacity in these high priority areas.
· A revolving bank be developed to circulate training materials within and between regions. Efforts should be focused on priority areas identified by each of the regional action plans.
· Action plans developed by each region should include a specific section outlining ten-year human resource development master plans that build incentives for career development and placement. These plans should provide clear mechanisms for continuing education to enable individuals and institutions to respond to changing needs, improve links with sectors, and widen the discourse with the aim of recruiting economic policymakers.
· UN agencies, bilaterals and NGOs also should review what each could do to create local opportunities, thus enhancing retention of capacity in the regions.
· The establishment of a fund linked to the need to external advisors/consultants on projects supported by UN agencies, NGOs and bilaterals should be explored.
· A steering committee in Asia should be formed and a work plan developed by it to permit the presentation of a ten-year action plan at the 30th SCN session in Chen-nai next year. A similar effort should be undertaken in the Middle East.
Chaired by Ian Darnton-Hill (Columbia University)
Recommendations of last year were that this WG would focus on integrated interventions including food-based approaches, rather than interventions involving single micro-nutrients. To do this, an agenda had been designed that gave an overview of the global situation, reports on multimicro-nutrient research, food-based approaches and an overview of activities regarding iron, zinc and some of the B vitamins. There was a short presentation from ICCIDD to ensure iodine was addressed. Barbara Underwood presented GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), a new initiative aimed at supporting developing countries in fortification of existing staple foods with micronutrients. John Mason (Tulane University) presented an overview of trends in micronutrient deficiencies and control programmes. The presentation highlighted the three methods for measuring trends: comparing national surveys at different times, fitting regression to diverse national results, and interpolating regional estimates at different times for comparison. The prevalence of clinical vitamin A deficiency is declining relatively rapidly, indicating that the ICN goal will be met. There is much less progress towards the control of iron deficiency and other forms of anaemia. Regarding IDD, where there are effective national salt iodization schemes there is impressive reduction in goiter. Presentations were also made by Professor Andrew Tomkins (Institute of Child Health) on multiple micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy, Heather Goldman (USAID) on USAID s sup-port to vitamin A programmes, Jack Ling (ICCIDD) on IDD elimination, Saskia de Pee (Helen Keller International) on homestead food production, micronutrient deficiencies and their role in poverty reduction, Richard Deckelbaum (Columbia University) on the March of Dimes recently-released report on the lifecycle approach to nutrition which targets preconceptual women (see publications section), Gary Gleason (International Nutrition Foundation) on activities by a wide range of partners on iron, folate and zinc, and Venkatesh Mannar (MI) on the need for a new strategy for iron.
The Working Group recommended that:
· A programme planning framework be developed that is consistent with the new decade goals to be adopted in May 2002 at the UN Special Session on Children.NUTRITION AND HIV/AIDS· To enhance effectiveness and reduce non-productive competition, the possibility of setting up a group to promote the integration of different strategies for prevention of micronutrient deficiencies should be examined.
· Coordinated efforts to develop effective strategies for preventing anaemia in children under two years should be promoted; Iron Deficiency Project Advisory Serviceoffered to initiate a task force of the Working Group for this.
· Methods need to be developed to identify groups not currently reached and the best approaches to address their needs; a task force involving INACG could take this on.
· Following the establishment in The Hague of the Global Network for Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency, the sustainability of IDD control programmes should be examined; a task force involving UNICEF, WHO, ICCIDD and others should take this forward.
Chaired by Badara Samb (WHO)
While the role of nutrition in HIV/AIDS prevention, care and mitigation is now better understood, there remains a large gap between commitment and action. The main objective of this working group meeting was to add impetus to this emerging nutrition agenda and highlight the opportunities for relevant action. Jos Perriens (WHO) presentation dealt with the minimum care and support package, which includes nutrition care and counselling. For some of these elements there is no guidance available on how to scale up. Strategic partnerships have led to significant decreases in drug prices. The HIV/AIDS department at WHO is not yet discussing the relationship between HIV and nutrition. During the discussion the point was made that drugs alone are not a sufficient response and hunger is a growing concern. Dan Raiten (National Institutes for Health) put forward the role of diet/nutrition in HIV and issues that would require special consideration above and beyond provision of food. He proposed a guiding framework to prioritize critical issues. Andrew Tomkins (Institute for Child Health) discussed nutrition among children and distinguished between those infected with HIV/AIDS and those affected because the mother was HIV+ or because both parents were sick or dead. He showed that nutritional care makes a difference to children with HIV; many children can survive to school age. Community-based initiatives for children whose parents are both sick or dead are quite broad, and the question is how to scale up while maintaining quality. Maren Lieberum (consultant) presented an overview of the several UN agency initiatives dealing with nutritional care and support for people living with HIV and AIDS. Stuart Gillespie (IFPRI) focused on the livelihoods perspective in the relationship between nutrition security and HIV/AIDS. He recommended that priority attention be given to communication and information sharing, and how to scale up community responses.
The Working Group recommended that:
· A consultative meeting should be organized to review and compare all initiatives dealing with nutritional care and support. The meeting should include all stake-holders especially community-based organizations.Four brief reports were received from WG that did not meet in full during the 29th session.· The new chair of the working group should approach Nutritionnet (www.nutritionnet.net) to open up an information sharing forum on nutrition and HIV/AIDS and permit day-to-day dialogue between those active and concerned with these issues.
· The SCN chair should write to Peter Piot and heads of HIV/AIDS departments in UN agencies of the commitments to nutrition and HIV/AIDS shown last year and summarized in the SCN Statement. These letters should identify several interventions that have proven to work.
· The working group should elaborate a conceptual framework for research priorities; this framework should be used in consultative meetings.
· The Secretariat should consider bringing together the various presentations made on March 14 in Berlin and publishing these along with short summaries from other presenters, possibly in SCN News.
· The new chair of this working group should discuss with other working group chairs, well in advance of next year s meeting in Chennai, how to incorporate HIV/AIDS into working group agendas with a view to harmonizing coverage.
NUTRITION ETHICS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Chaired by Urban Jonsson (UNICEF)
Last year this working group decided to intensify work on benchmarks and indicators for monitoring the realization of the right to food, health and care, to seek active engagement in this work of all SCN member agencies, and to review the status of other human rights-related work relevant to nutrition within the agencies. A draft document on monitoring had been developed by the working group task force and presented to the 28th session. Since then, the document has been discussed internally in UNICEF, and was also presented to the UN Development Group s working group on human rights programming at its January 2002 meeting in New York. It will serve as an input into the development of generic guidelines for human rights based programming, spearheaded by UNHCHR and UNDP, and the working group should seize the opportunity to contribute to this process. A major item on the working group s continuing agenda is the preparation of a manual on the interpretation and use of General Comment no. 12 on the right to adequate food, issued by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. As a preparatory step the Group will have an opportunity to review, next year, the outcome of six national seminars to be held in the course of 2002 with support from Norway. The principal objective of these seminars is to set into motion a national process to operationalize General Comment no. 12. Seminars are planned for South Africa, Brazil, Mali, Uganda, Nepal and Norway. A synthesis report will be compiled; this will provide the basis for which the working group would discuss the procedure for developing guidelines on the implementation of General Comment no. 12. This discussion would also consider how to bring in other relevant General Comments from the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, notably on the right to health, to education and to housing.
HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY
Reported by Brian Thompson (FAO)
This group decided last year that work would consist of sharing operational research on community-level best practices, reaching consensus on community-centered food-based nutrition improvement programmes, possibly holding a workshop to discuss this, drawing up a plan of action for incorporating community nutrition approaches into country level policies and programmes and exploring the use of food aid for improving household food security. A virtual task force was set up. The task force is in the process of identifying its priorities. These may include work on defining common terminology, concepts and approaches, the compilation and sharing of lessons learned for reaching a consensus on best practices, the identification of indicators related to household food security, advocating for the more prominent position of household food security in development efforts for improving nutrition and moving from know how to do how. The working group has had a slow year; the task force invites those interested in shaping the agenda to join the email discussion forum.
NUTRITION OF SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN
Chaired by Don Bundy (World Bank)
This working group has been helping to support inter-sectoral partnerships to promote a common vision of school nutrition and health activities, which work synergistically to improve the health, nutrition and education of school-age children especially girl children and the most disadvantaged. Work is underway in three areas: school nutrition and health programmes, HIV/AIDS and school-age children, and knowledge management and information sharing. The FRESH partnership (Focusing Resources on Effective School Health) was launched in April 2000. This is an inter-sectoral initiative to improve access to health and nutrition services within school health programmes. The core components of the FRESH framework require school-community partnerships. FRESH programmes are now being developed in over 20 countries in Africa. WFP is working with WHO to develop programmes linking school feeding with de-worming. Following a successful pilot programme in Nepal, including regular fortified midday meals, regular deworming, health education and improvement of health and hygiene facilities, two workshops were undertaken in Africa in 2001 to help education and health sectors introduce deworming into school feeding programmes.
The working group recognizes that HIV/AIDS poses one of the greatest threats to nutrition, health and education of school-age children. Policies for strategic action have been developed by partnerships of agencies and by individual agencies. The UN Interagency working group on HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education has helped the development of strategic plans that support the UNGASS target of achieving a 25% reduction in infection rates among young people in the most affected countries by 2005 and globally by 2010.
A new document, What’s new in the health and nutritional status of school-age children has been prepared by the working group. There are plans to publish this in full in the December issue of SCN News. Other initiatives taken include a SchoolHealth Mail List, to share information on school health and nutrition and to serve as a forum for debate and to act as point of contact. A school health website has been developed and is administered by the Partnership for Child Development. A new FRESH website is being developed; this site will contain sections on each of the core components of FRESH.
NUTRITION IN EMERGENCIES
Presentation by Francis Mason (Action Against Hunger/UK)
Members of this working group were active during the year in supporting the Secretariat in developing the 29th session symposium programme. A task force meeting was held on March 14 in Berlin to follow up on various work activities under way. The task force agreed on the importance of a proposal prepared by Helen Young (Tufts University), the Refugee Nutrition Information System (RNIS) policy paper, to assess the technical basis and empirical origins of current field approaches to nutrition surveys, the purpose of which is to serve as a normative reference for agency policies, guidelines and training initiatives. The working group stressed the importance of raising funds for this initiative.
A new initiative by the US Government to strengthen the capacity for monitoring standard anthropometric and mortality indicators was discussed (see Emergencies Section). A number of concerns were raised by the group with regard to the need for qualitative indicators to be used alongside quantitative indicators. It was also noted that the proposal for the RNIS policy paper would be a useful precursor or parallel analytical activity for a workshop to be convened by the US. Save the Children/UK presented recent experience of measuring mortality in Sudan.
The thematic group on infant feeding in emergencies has worked steadily throughout the year on operational guidance, which will now be translated into four languages. Two training modules will also be developed. It is extremely important that this work is seen through to completion, including pilot testing. This requires both funding and technical input from task force and working group members.
The thematic group on capacity building (focal point: Annalies Borrel, Tufts University) presented their work to date. This includes developing a work plan and preparation of a training inventory that will be put onto NutritionNet for further consultation and review. A new thematic group was initiated for home-based treatment and community therapeutic feeding (focal point: Mija Tesse Ververs, Action Contre la Faim/France). Recent experience and future proposed strategies were presented by Valid International, Save the Children/UK and Action contre la faim. The task force agreed that plans to employ ready-to-use therapeutic foods (known as RUTFs) should be carried out only in the context of very careful analysis. Furthermore, any plan to produce alternative RUTFs should be subject to strict ethical review.
A second new thematic group was initiated, looking at the myths established over food and nutrition programmes. The focal point for this work will be Suzanne Jaspars (NutritionWorks). Working Group members have agreed to provide evidence that supports or negates these myths. The refugee thematic group (focal point: Zahra Mirghani, UNHCR) circulated a paper to initiate discussion of activities. NutritionNet, an interactive platform for nutrition professionals to share detailed knowledge about nutritional research and operations has been initiated by Médecins Sans Frontières/Holland. The task force encourages all those who have not already registered to do so. It is intended that NutritionNet can be used also as a forum for constructive work amongst thematic groups.
The task force agreed that it was time to do an assessment of how the RNIS reports are used. The task force was requested to provide suggestions on how the functioning of the RNIS can be further enhanced
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The SCN 30th Session including a one-day Symposium on Mainstreaming Nutrition will take place in Chennai, India hosted by Professor M S Swaminathan Monday 3 through Friday 7 March 2003 Registration and programme details will be available on the
SCN website http://www.unsystem.org/scn from mid October 2002 |
