Ha Noi, Viet Nam. A Vietnamese ministerial delegation will attend the high profile Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) this month, jointly organized by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) at FAO Headquarters in Rome from 19-21 November 2014.

Representatives from Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as Ministry of Health will be present at the ICN2, a high-level ministerial meeting bringing together senior policy-makers to propose a flexible policy framework to address today's major nutrition challenges and identify priorities for enhanced international cooperation on nutrition. Addressing malnutrition globally and in Viet Nam will require a multisectoral approach driven by the participation of a range of stakeholders, including intergovernmental organizations, civil society, non-governmental organizations, researchers, the private sector and consumers. In particular, there is a need to mobilize the knowledge and capacities of all different stakeholders, including those in Viet Nam, to generate a political consensus to promote nutrition as a priority in the global development agenda.

High level political consensus in the global development agenda will be reflected into workplan of the newly funded joint programme on Integrated Nutrition and Food Security Strategies for Children and Vulnerable groups in Viet Nam of the Sustainable Development Goal Fund (SDG-F) that FAO and other UN agencies in Viet Nam contribute to.

A Parliamentary Meeting on Nutrition will be held as a pre-Conference event on 18 November 2014 to secure the effective engagement and contributions of Parliamentarians, in the global policy debate on nutrition. This pre-Conference event will provide a forum to reflect on the challenges and opportunities for improving nutrition, in light of changes in the global economy and in food systems. Output from this global gathering will be presented in a formal statement to the ICN2.

The global economy, food systems and the nutritional status of populations have changed markedly since the first ICN in 1992 in Rome, that a Vietnamese delegation also attended. ICN2 will build on ongoing global political processes and initiatives to contribute to the post-2015 UN development agenda including identifying priority areas, nutrition development goals as well as policies required to achieve, measure and account for them. The outcome of the ICN2 will contribute to the UN Secretary-General’s call for a high degree of policy coherence at global, regional, national and sub-national levels and a global partnership for development at all levels.

The ICN2 will also amplify the Secretary-General’s call to leaders gathered at the Rio+20 Summit to take up the “Zero Hunger Challenge”.

More information about the Conference, please visit: http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/icn2/background/en/
Information for Participants at http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/icn2/information/en/