2017 saw key steps toward ending hunger and malnutrition; but there have also been setbacks: Here are some of the most interesting policy developments, research findings, and major events. Thank you for your continued interest in and support for the Compact2025 News in Brief. Please send your suggestions for resources to include and ideas to IFPRI-Compact2025@cgiar.org.
China issued the 2017-2030 National Nutrition Plan in July: It details nutrition and health goals on anemia, stunting, and breastfeeding for 2020 and 2030, and highlights the importance of nutrition and health regulations, research, and monitoring.
The Bangladesh National Nutrition Council approved the Second National Plan of Action on Nutrition 2016-2025—developed in collaboration with key stakeholders—in August: It aims to improve the nutritional status of all citizens and reduce all forms of malnutrition, with a focus on children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
The Government of India launched its National Nutrition Strategy in September—with detailed information on the country’s nutrition status and objectives: It is committed to ensure that every child, adolescent girl, and woman attains optimal nutritional status by 2022.
Tanzania launched the National Multisectoral Nutrition Action Plan in September: It aims to reduce the country’s stunting rate from 34 to 28 percent in the next five years by scaling up evidence-based multisectoral nutrition interventions.
HarvestPlus released a review of evidence in March: It showed that biofortification measurably improves human health and nutrition and reduces iron and vitamin A deficiencies.
UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank released the 2017 joint estimates for child malnutrition including an interactive dashboard in June: Malnutrition rates remain alarming, stunting is declining too slowly while overweight continues to rise, and Africa and Asia bear the greatest share of all forms of malnutrition.
State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report—launched by five UN agencies in September—found that world hunger is on the rise: The estimated number of undernourished people increased from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016. The report is the first consolidated UN report on progress towards eradicating hunger and malnutrition by 2030.
The High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development met in New York in July to review progress on seven SDGs: It concluded that while results have been encouraging, the pace of implementation must be accelerated.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hosted the first ever Goalkeepers event in September: It highlighted the progress toward the SDGs. It also highlighted a set of “accelerators”—including The Power of Nutrition—that are catalyzing investments and innovations to achieve these goals. During the event, the first Goalkeepers Report was launched: An annual progress check on the SDGs with a case study on Peru’s success to reduce stunting rates.
US$640 million in new funding was committed to accelerate the global response to malnutrition at the Global Nutrition Summit 2017 in November. The 2017 Global Nutrition Report—launched at this high-level event—finds ‘significant burdens’ of malnutrition in all 140 countries studied.
