Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

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Ms. Nakalembo Simwaka

Member since
Organization: Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition
Country: Zambia
Field(s) of expertise:
I am working on:

Advocating for increased political will of nutrition on the national development agenda. Rolling out an advocacy pack which was part of a project of the Zambia Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition Alliance (CSO-SUN) and the World Food Programme (WFP) on barriers adolescent girls face in adequate nutrition and HIV.

This member contributed to:

    • 1. Does the work programme present a compelling vision for enabling strategic interaction and mutual support across existing initiatives, platforms, forums and programmes, given the stipulation of Res 70/259 that the Decade should be organized with existing institutions and available resources? Open and inclusive dialogues, biennial reports, open access databases and regular tracking are all good measure to ensure a well-structured action on nutrition coupled with advocacy and technical support all covered in this first draft.

      2.What are your general comments to help strengthen the presented elements of the first draft work programme of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition? Overall the first draft is comprehensive. The Nutrition Decade secretariat would benefit from working closely with civil society in order to keep governments accountable. In each country a strong CSO focal point would be beneficial in garnering support. The advocacy component is key to ensuring success of the vision of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition.

      3.Do you feel you can contribute to the success of the Nutrition Decade or align yourself with the proposed range of action areas? As the only nutrition advocacy hub in Zambia, CSO-SUN is strategically positioned to handle action Area 6- to ensure commitments for action towards nutrition related policies and dialogue. CSO-SUN spearheaded the formation of the All Party Parliamentary Caucus on Nutrition (APPCON) which members of parliament MPs including key nutrition champions are advocating nutrition legislation and enhancing political will and accountability to address the burden of malnutrition. CSO-SUN also works closely with the media to keep nutrition relevant and has media trainings to increase accurate nutrition reporting thus creating space for dialogue.

      4.How could this draft work programme be improved to promote collective action to achieve the transformational change called for by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the ICN2 outcomes? What is missing? Issues on lack of financial resources may delay progress especially where relevant policies exist and implementation due to financial constraints is often the issue.

      5. Do you have specific comments on the section on accountability and shared learning? It’s imperative that the biennial reports that include government commitment should also reflect governments financial commitment as a criteria for commitment e.g. to nutrition related programs and national budget allocation towards nutrition.