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Nutrition for Growth (N4G) IIRio de Janeiro, 4 August 2016OverviewOn August 4 2016, under the joint leadership of governments of Brazil, United Kingdom and Japan, 120 participants gathered in Rio de Janeiro for the Brazil-hosted Nutrition for Growth (N4G) event, anchored around the 2016 Olympic Games. The audience and speakers included leadership of UN agencies, government officials, foundations, and civil society representatives from around the globe. The meeting builds on the Nutrition for Growth Summit held in 2013 in London, seeking to track progress on the commitments made then and call on global leaders to position nutrition at the center of the development agenda. Organizers emphasized the double burden of malnutrition globally, under the theme “Accelerate progress against malnutrition with actions to promote access to healthy food for all.” As they shared best practices and acknowledged recent progress, speakers emphasized the many challenges ahead to curb malnutrition, especially in the first 1000 days of life. Speakers and civil society present in the room called for a global commitment meeting in 2017 bringing together donor and high-burden countries, civil society and other stakeholders to expand resources and political will towards ending malnutrition worldwide. Athletes, Chefs and Global Leaders support action on nutritionThe event was enriched by live and video statements by chefs and athletes highlighting the importance of fighting the double burden of malnutrition:Brazil’s Olympic medalist Robson Caetano and Kenya’s long-distance runner Tegla Loroupe cited their personal histories to emphasize how access to adequate nutrition has a transformational power, enabling kids to reach their full potential regardless of their background. Chefs Jamie Oliver (joining by video), Rita Lobo and David Hertz called for better policies on nutrition, including the need to ensure access to healthy food, better education on nutrition and reduction in food waste, urging policymakers to prioritize nutrition as a cornerstone of development. Also joining by video, Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, argued that investing in nutrition will bring lasting impact on economic development in high burden countries. Summary of panelsOpening/ Political panel:Effective global, regional and national policies on nutrition – matched by adequate resources -- were highlighted as central to meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The panel made the case for greater investment and commitments by global leaders citing best practices that demonstrate it is possible to reduce the burden of malnutrition and meet global targets. WHO’s Director General Margaret Chan praised Brazil’s Zero Hunger program, which enabled the country to virtually eliminate stunting, as a model for other countries. She highlighted the need to address the global multiple burden of malnutrition as 800 million people do not have enough food to eat and obesity rates are rising in both developed and developing nations. Dr. Chan positioned nutrition as a thread that runs through many health and development goals. FAO’s Director General José Graziano da Silva provided the audience with a historical overview of the N4G initiative and characterized nutrition as a priority that should be addressed by governments and societies in sustainable, non-partisan public policies, and not considered a matter of individual behavior. Dr. da Silva highlighted that there are nutrition indicators in 12 out of 17 SDGs, making nutrition central to achieving them. Horizontal collaboration between countries was praised as a tool to mobilize joint efforts in tackling global malnutrition.Brazil’s Minister of Health Ricardo Barros, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Social and Agricultural Development Alberto Beltrame, DFID’s Director George Turkington and Japan’s Ambassador to Brazil Kunio Umeda raised the reduction of child mortality rates, programs and marketing restrictions towards ultra-processed foods as important elements in this process, emphasizing the need for comprehensive policies. They also recalled N4G as an opportunity to galvanize commitments and promote transformational change. Panel 1Best practices in tacking malnutrition were featured in this panel while calling for future actions and commitments to address this global challenge. Speakers highlighted experiences in Africa and Latin America. Participants included Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Brazil Sinknesh Ejigu, Executive Director of the South American Institute of Governance in Health Carina Vance, the President of Brazil’s National Health Council (CNS) Ronald Ferreira dos Santos, representing civil society. WHO/PAHO representative Joaquín Molina moderated the session.Panel 2This session focused on food systems and nutrition sensitive actions towards meeting UN’s SDGs (2016-2030) and realizing the vision of the Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025). Participants emphasized the global nature of these challenges, affecting all countries and regions, and the importance of a shared agenda. Global solidarity in sharing resources and tools across countries was cited as a mechanism to accelerate progress. Participants included the Director of the National Fund for Educational Development within Brazil’s Ministry of Education José Costa Neto, the Sub-Secretary General for Political Affairs within Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Paulino de Carvalho, UK’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Gina Radford and the Director of WFP’s Centre of Excellence on Fighting Hunger Daniel Balaban. FAO’s representative in Brazil Alan Bojanic moderated the session.Panel 3The final panel emphasized the global responsibility of taking action on nutrition, galvanizing research capacity, advocacy towards evidence based interventions and strong political leadership. Participants stressed the need for global SMART commitments on nutrition that would enable a coordinated action-oriented agenda, and called for a commitment/ pledging moment in 2017. Participants included the Head of R&D of Food and Nutrition Security within Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Sonia da Costa, a member of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) Enilce Sally, DFID’s Nutrition Team Leader Lucy Gordon and the Director of Nutrition of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Shawn Baker. UNICEF’s representative in Brazil Gary Stahl moderated the session.The Road Ahead:The N4G initiative was acknowledged as a central part of a broader global platform that should drive increased political commitments towards nutrition and food security goals, hoping to achieve meaningful impact by the N4G event planned for Tokyo in 2020. The next 12 months will see a number of important global gatherings that will strengthen this process, such as the official launch of the Decade of Action during UNGA in September, and several other events leading up to the G7 meeting in Italy. The sequence of global gatherings, which kicked off in Rio, should be a catalyzing inclusive process bringing together countries and other stakeholders around a shared agenda and measurable global goals. A joint official communiqué by the organizers of the Rio N4G event will be publicized shortly, acknowledging the global nature of the double burden of malnutrition and the need for stepping up global leadership on this issue. In the document, the governments of Brazil, UK and Japan welcome an opportunity in 2017 for countries and international leaders to make SMART commitments on nutrition. Annex 1: Select quotes from the event“My story is an example of how sport can help young people to overcome difficulties we face in life. We have a duty to provide opportunities for children to thrive, to ensure that they reach their full development in life”.Robson Caetano, Brazilian sprinter and four-time Olympian “We are here celebrating the Olympics as a global event. When we talk about nutrition, it should also be addressed as a global deal. If there is anything we can do to support that small child, to support that woman who is pregnant to be nourished, we should do. This is why I call upon all the sportspeople in the world to think about. We have a role to play to support initiatives like this.”Tegla Loroupe, - IAAF Ambassador, Chef de Mission of the Refugee Olympic Team Rio 2016 and Kenya’s former marathon world record-holder“Brazil is the most appropriate venue for addressing the challenge of malnutrition. This country has been the leader in reducing undernutrition. The progress was truly remarkable, and the zero hunger initiative is an excellent model for many countries to learn from. And I would like to advice all of us to take this opportunity of the next 15 years under the SDGs to seize the political commitments to scale up nutrition initiatives.” Margaret Chan, Director-General WHO“We still don?t see nutrition as a public policy issue. Few countries have nutrition as a priority in their legislation and their policies. However, simple actions – like reducing sugar and salt in the food we eat – are great examples of how we can end some forms of malnutrition.José Graziano, Director-General FAO“Nutrition for Growth is not only a meeting – it’s an ongoing initiative. It is important that next year we have a head-of-state pledging moment to discuss policies to tackle malnutrition. We will work with other organizations to ensure political commitment during this process.”Daniel Balaban, Director, WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil. “No country today in the world is immune of malnutrition. That means there is a moral imperative to eliminate malnutrition. Progress is not happening fast enough, and we need to sustain momentum. But let me be clear here today: malnutrition is a political issue, and it requires political commitments from all countries to tackle this issue.”George Turkington, Head of DFID Ethiopia“While Brazil has a 1.8% rate of undernutrition, half of the population is overweight and 20% is obese. Our challenge now is to promote food education, so Brazilians will learn how to eat nutritious, healthy food. We also have to tackle food waste and strengthen our school feeding program.”Ricardo Barros, Minister of Health, Brazil“We have incredible technical knowledge on how to solve malnutrition. We have a better political framework than we ever had in my lifetime. However, without resourcing those plans we will not move forward. Therefore, we need to make sure that all these great political and technical momentum are backed up with financial resources from governments and donors. In London in 2012, the Olympic torch passed into a pledging moment in 2013, and I think this Olympic torch needs to bring a pledging moment in 2017 so we can all go forward and bring the resources we need to achieve the SDGs. Shawn Baker, Director of Nutrition, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation“People who suffer from malnutrition are the most vulnerable. We must use the power of food to change this situation.”David Hertz, Chef and Founder of Gastromotiva ................
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