Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far. This is a great start to the discussion.
There was overwhelming support for the opportunity provided by the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition to enhance coordination and cooperation amongst all actors, and drive integrated action across multiple sectors. With this, however, several asked for the lines of responsibility to be better defined, and for more explicit information about who is expected to do what.
Some contributors suggested structural changes to make the work programme more coherent and efficient, including the need to better distinguish between aspirations and concrete goals (i.e. “our ends and means”) to avoid confusion. This dynamic was also challenged with questions about what is achievable, such as our ability to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition. Others pointed to essential sectors that are missing, such as water, hygiene and sanitation, the nexus between humanitarian and development, and the challenges posed by climate change on food variability and nutrition security.
A strong case was made for a transparent, inclusive, open-ended participatory processes throughout the Decade to ensure that all actors feel a sense of ownership, togetherness and to ensure that the voices and commitments of all actors are heard. Online consultations were given as an example, as was a publically accessible repository of commitments to strengthen accountability. An online dashboard would allow for targets and performance to be tracked. It would also help to ensure that double counting of nutrition sensitive actions are avoided.
Today in Rome, the Committee on World Food Security’s Open Ended Working Group on Nutrition is meeting at FAO HQ to discuss its contribution to the Decade. We welcome you to consider an answer to that in the contributions to follow, and on broader observations on the Decade.
Thank you again for the thoughtful input and the commitments made to the Decade through this forum.
I look forward to continuing the conversation.
Christine
女士 Christine Campeau