Scaling Up Nutrition

Dear Colleagues,

I write to update you on the progress of efforts to Scale Up Nutrition.  The collaborative process that began in 2009 with the development of the Scale Up Nutrition Framework[1], is evolving into a movement that is both stimulated and reinforced by political interest in nutrition among leaders of national governments and development partners alike. The Road Map for Scaling up Nutrition[2], which was produced between July and September 2010, provides the principles and direction for increased support for countries as they scale up efforts to tackle under-nutrition across a range of sectors. It encourages multi-stakeholder platforms that promote synergized actions and simplify coordination of support.

The SUN Road Map Task Team drew on the insights of five Working Groups made up of people from governments, civil society, the private sector, philanthropic foundations and the research community.  This letter is addressed to those who took part in the Working Groups: your contributions resulted in a Road Map that has been widely appreciated.  It was presented at the “1,000 Days: Change a Life, Change the Future” event during the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals on September 21^st 2010 in New York.  1,000 days is a time-bound, results-oriented effort to implement the SUN Road Map: it is raising awareness about the extent and consequences of child under-nutrition.

In 2011 the Road Map will be translated into action with a view to helping countries affected by under-nutrition to achieve long-term reduction in under-nutrition and realize the first Millennium Development Goal, and to start demonstrating this impact within three years.

At least 10 countries have already indicated their intentions to scale up nutrition.  Different groups of stakeholders are being encouraged to provide support in a coordinated way – working together to support country-led actions. In this letter I explain the mechanisms being developed to support in-country actions: I describe the outcomes expected from this support, and suggest ways in which your organizations can continue an involvement with the Scale Up Nutrition (SUN) movement.

The support effort is being guided by six inter-linked “Task Forces” under the stewardship of a “Transition Team”. The Transition Team is built on the Task Team which produced the Road Map: the Task Forces have evolved from the Road Map Working Groups. Roles and objectives are described in the Annex.  Task Force facilitators are developing terms of reference for the work ahead and identifying members – they are encouraged to include country-level stakeholders and to incorporate expertise required for both nutrition-sensitive development and nutrition-specific interventions. The Task Forces will work rapidly and in a flexible manner: they will report to the Transition Team, at regularly agreed intervals.

As Chair of the Transition Team I shall seek ways to ensure that the wider community of nutrition stakeholders is kept fully informed of this work so that all can – if they wish – contribute to support for scaling up nutrition.  I plan to make information on progress available through a series of teleconferences, meetings and bulletins throughout the first half of 2011. I hope that I will soon be in a position to provide information on countries that have indicated they will – as a priority – act to scale up nutrition, and to describe details of consultations between authorities within these countries and development partners.

Those wishing to participate in the wider discussions of these Task Forces, and receive updates on the SUN movement are invited to e-mail the SCN Secretariat (scn@who.int), who will facilitate access to the e-platforms hosted on their website: www.unscn.org. 

In the meantime, please do not hesitate to get in contact with the Transition Team, through me, should you require further information or clarification.

Sincerely yours,

David Nabarro
Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Food Security and Nutrition
nabarro@un.org; david.nabarro@undp.org