Advancing Nutrition with Renewed Commitment at the Nutrition for Growth Summit

29 April 2025

At a pivotal moment for global nutrition and sustainable development, FAO played an active role in the 2025 Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit, hosted by the Government of France in Paris on 27-28 March. Held every four years, the N4G Summit convenes leaders across governments, UN agencies, civil society, philanthropic institutions and the private sector to deliver bold political and financial commitments in support of nutrition.

This year’s Summit marked a major milestone in global nutrition efforts, resulting in nearly USD 28 billion in financial pledges to close the annual USD 13 billion nutrition financing gap and accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As of March 2025, over 400 commitments have been registered on the Nutrition Accountability Framework platform, with numbers continuing to rise – reflecting the strong momentum seen at N4G, where delegations filled the venue to capacity and leaders, including the French Prime Minister and the King of Lesotho, delivered keynote addresses.

Partnering for Better Nutrition: FAO and UN Agencies Unite for N4G

In the lead-up to the Summit, FAO co-led two of the six thematic working groups – on sustainable food systems and climate with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); and on data, evidence, innovation and AI with World Food Programme (WFP) – while actively contributing to all six. FAO also co-led the technical working group on the Summit’s vision and roadmap alongside World Health Organization (WHO), helping to shape N4G’s overall direction, objectives, and governance. FAO contributed to high-level thematic sessions on healthy diets, and the use of data, research, innovation, and AI to end malnutrition, and co-organized side events with UN partners focusing on nutrition policy and implementation.

Thematic Session: “Placing Healthy Diets at the Heart of Policies and Actions for Food System Transformation”

This high-level discussion highlighted the urgent need to transform food systems to ensure that healthy diets are accessible, affordable, diverse, and sustainable for all. Speakers – including representatives from governments, UN agencies, and development partners – called for nutrition to be placed at the core of development investments and food systems reform, stressing the importance of political will, targeted financing, inclusive policies, and strong partnerships.

IFAD President, Alvaro Lario, underscored the central role of nutrition in achieving development goals and called for increased investment in nutrition-sensitive interventions and food systems that support diverse, healthy diets.

FAO’s Director of the Food and Nutrition Division, Lynnette Neufeld, emphasized the need for a shared understanding of healthy diets, referencing the 2024 FAO-WHO joint statement: “A healthy diet is adequate in nutrients without excess, balanced in energy, diverse in foods, and moderate in unhealthy items.” Neufeld stressed the importance of system-wide action – including sustainable diversification of production, stronger value chains, and healthier food environments – to make healthy diets a reality for all.

Side Event: “Empowering Women in Agrifood Systems: Pathways to Gender-just Nutrition and Reproductive Health for Women and Girls”

FAO Deputy Director-General Maurizio Martina emphasized the powerful links between nutrition, gender, rights and reproductive health at a side event co-organized with UNFPA, highlighting how structural inequalities harm women’s and girls’ nutrition, seriously impacting their health and that of future generations. He called for collaboration across UN agencies, governments and partners to strengthen food security, improve nutrition, build resilience and ensure women’s and girls’ rights are central to policies. 

“UN agencies must continue working together with governments and partners to ensure women’s and girls’ rights – and their nutritional needs – are at the centre of policies and programmes.”  – Maurizio Martina, FAO Deputy Director-General

Speaking on behalf of UNFPA, Leyla Sharafi stressed that women and girls, especially in vulnerable settings, must have access to the health, nutrition, autonomy and opportunities not only to survive, but to thrive. She called for robust partnerships between UN agencies, civil society and the private sector to achieve meaningful and lasting progress.

The FAO-UNFPA programme, Resilient Livelihoods Development for Women and Youth, integrates reproductive health and social and economic empowerment into agricultural development. Dr Mohammad Shuaib Yacob*, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Philippines) emphasized its people-centered approach: ”The initiative we presented is more than a project – it is a movement.”

Parliamentarians can play a key role in advancing nutrition, health, and equity for all by advocating for gender-responsive policies and frameworks. Hon. Neema Lugangira, Member of Parliament from Tanzania, Co-Chair of Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Executive Committee and Founding Vice Chair of the African Food Systems Parliamentary Network (AFSPaN), underlined this, adding that by empowering women in leadership and politics, their voices can help shape more inclusive and effective policies.

Pauline Verriere, Advocacy Director at Action Contre la Faim, (ACF), underscored that gender-based inequalities in agrifood systems are exacerbated in humanitarian crises, urging the use of the Right to Food Guidelines and the Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition (2023). Emphasizing the importance of prioritizing women’s nutrition as a critical driver for sustainable development and food security, IFAD also highlighted the importance of men’s inclusion, and bringing them into the discussion on women’s empowerment and nutrition.  

Event Moderator and Deputy Director of FAO’s Food and Nutrition Division, Nancy Aburto, closed this final session of the N4G summit by reminding the audience that “the success of all the commitments made at N4G depends, in no small part, on the empowerment of women and girls”.

Side Event: “Maximizing the Nutrition Impact of School Meal Programmes”

Co-hosted by FAO, WFP, UNICEF, the UN-Nutrition Secretariat, the School Meals Coalition, and the Coalition of Action on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems for Children and All, this event focused on improving the design and implementation of school meal programmes, placing a strong emphasis on nutrition, cultural relevance and sustainability.

Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the EU and Belgium, Raschad Al-Khafaji, spoke candidly about the practical challenges countries face in setting effective school meal standards, ranging from data gaps and procurement limitations to cultural considerations and enforcement capacity.

FAO, in collaboration with WFP and with support from the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, is addressing these gaps through a global project aimed at helping countries develop holistic, context-specific nutrition standards. These standards must be evidence-based, reflect total dietary intake, meet the needs of vulnerable groups, and account for children’s real-life food environments, including exposure to low-nutrient foods near schools.

FAO and its partners remain committed to helping ensure every child has access to healthy food at school, through equity-driven, data-informed approaches.