SUN CSN News Roundup

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Bangladesh – Launch of the Global Nutrition Report 2015

The Global Nutrition Report (GNR) 2015 was launched by IFPRI Bangladesh in November. The session was led by Dr Shirin Sharmin Choudhury, Speaker and Member of Parliament, with an address by MP Muhammad Abdul Mannan, State Minister, Ministry of Planning. The launch was attended by a wide range of stakeholders including government representatives from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, donors, UN agencies, International and national NGOs, civil society organisations, academia, economists and others.

Dr Lawrence Haddad of IFPRI presented the report’s key findings and lauded Bangladesh for reducing the rate of stunting among children under five. Despite this progress there were serious challenges hindering development. He called on the government to increase the nutrition component in the budget to tackle issues such as reducing the wasting rate in children, underweight anaemia in children and women, overweight in children and adults, and for promoting exclusive breastfeeding.

Dr Haddad’s call for action requires an integrated approach across six areas. Firstly, for Bangladesh to honour existing commitments to the SUN Movement (including civil society’s role in advocacy) and the Nutrition for Growth commitment at Rio 2016. Secondly, to increase the coverage of nutrition programmes and measure that coverage. Thirdly, to build coherent alliances between nutrition-focused organisations and other communities. Fourth, to find more funding for nutrition action – Bangladesh has yet to allocate a percentage of the total government budget to nutrition. Fifth, to empower communities for front line nutrition service delivery. And, sixth, to identify data gaps that hinder action and fill those gaps.

The speaker of Bangladesh’s Parliament acknowledged the progress made by Bangladesh and the challenges faced. He commended the Global Nutrition report and stated that Bangladesh is on the right track to scale up nutrition strategically through national policies and plans

Burundi – SUN CSA’s first nutrition advocacy training

The first Nutrition Advocacy Training for Burundi SUN Civil Society Alliance was conducted at Gitega in October 2015, led by facilitators from the World Food Programme (WFP) and representatives of Kenya’s SUN Civil Society Alliance (SUN CSA), Manaan Mumma and Titus Mung’ou.

Twenty-two members of Burundi SUN CSN were trained on various nutrition advocacy issues including the SUN Movement, using the advocacy toolbox and the advocacy cycle, advocacy strategy, working in networks and alliances, the nutrition landscape, nutrition messaging and power mapping, among others.

Kenya’s SUN CSA Titus Mung’ou facilitating the Nutrition Advocacy Training

A number of key nutrition advocacy objectives were developed by the end of the meeting, including:

• Campaign for a 1% increase in budget allocated to food security and nutrition each year

• Influence the MoH to encourage MINOLACS to produce bio-fortified for children between six and 24 months

• Encourage local leaders in six provinces to be champions of nutrition education by 2016

• Influence stakeholders in the fight against malnutrition to be more operational in SUN movement in Burundi by 2018.

Cambodia – new alliance supported by Kenya’s SUN CSA

Cambodia joined SUN Movement in 2014 as the 53rd country. The country’s SUN CSA is three months old and already has 25 members. In November 2015, representatives of Kenya’s SUN CSA travelled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to share their learning and experience of working to scale up nutrition. Kenya’s journey as part of the SUN movement and the part played by civil society was shared by Kenya’s SUN CSA chair Titus Mung’ou.

The session took place at the Office of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Deputy General Secretary of the Working Group for Food Security and Nutrition (CARD) and Government Focal Point H E Sok Silo.

H E Silo took alliance members through the road taken by Cambodia to join the SUN Movement, the progress made, the establishment of SUN UN, Donor and CSA networks, as well as the role played by the country in driving forward the nutrition agenda. He shared the lessons learnt at the SUN Global Gathering in Milan in October 2015. “Nutrition is a very important agenda in Cambodia,” he said.

For his part, the CSA Focal Point for Cambodia Hou Kroeun updated members on steps made by the network since its establishment three months ago, including registration of members, plans to develop an advocacy plan, terms of reference, advocacy activities undertaken in the recent days and support to nutrition events including the World Breastfeeding Week. Cambodia’s CSA has 25 members and its Focal Point is Helen Keller International. The alliance will soon develop its governance and Terms of Reference.

CARD and SUN Focal Point are both housed in the Office of the Prime Minister H E Hun Sen, which brings together different line ministries (Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Rural Development, Council of Agriculture and Rural Development, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and United Nations.

SUN networks formed so far include: Government, United Nations (focal point is UNICEF) and Donor (focal point is USAID). In the Global Gathering Report 2015, Cambodia is on course to meet 2 World Health Assembly Global Nutrition targets. The report notes that Kenya is the only country on course to meet all the five WHA targets.

Ethiopia – UK delegation on child health and nutrition

In September 2015, RESULTS UK led a delegation to Ethiopia to investigate the impact of UK support to Ethiopia to improve child health and nutritional outcomes.

In line with DFID’s stated priorities, health interventions in Ethiopia appear to represent good value for money but the country still has a considerable journey to travel in order to achieve equity, despite its achievements in relation to the MDGs. Coverage rates are high in Addis Ababa but are significantly lower in rural communities, especially in conflict-affected areas of the country which were not visited by the delegation.

Million Shibeshi, coordinator of Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition (ECSC), speaking with Lord Oates, Liberal Democrat peer in the UK’s House of Lords.

A severe drought in the lowland areas of the country caused in large part by El Niño means that there are considerable risks of food shortages in the coming months and it is imperative that civil society in Ethiopia is mindful of these risks and works with the Ethiopian Government to monitor developments. The delegation hopes to see that domestic resources are maximised in conjunction with continued support from donor countries like the UK.

Million Shibeshi, Lord Oates, with Laura Kerr and Jim Claverley of RESULTS UK and Enawgaw Sisay of the Micronutrient Initiative.

In November, following the trip, Jonathan Oates asked a question in parliament about DFID’s response to the food security situation in Ethiopia.

Guatemala – politicians hear young people’s voice on nutrition

Ahead of the presidential election run-off in September, Save the Children Guatemala and SUN CSA Guatemala brought together over 300 youth representatives with the two candidates for the vice-presidency. It was a chance for the young people to share their concerns, and make proposals related to childhood and youth. Key themes included increased investment for youth and reducing malnutrition among children under 5 and making use of the 1000 day window. Both candidates signed a petition presented by the young people.

Vice presidential candidate Lic. Mario Leal of the UNE party signs the petition.

Kenya – training nutrition trainers of trainers

Kenya’s SUN CSA conducted the first Nutrition Advocacy Training for Trainers of Trainers (ToTs) in October 2015. The training was part of Kenya’s National Nutrition Week activities and was part of the preparations for implementing donor-funded advocacy activities targeting various counties countrywide. The training was for 27 senior nutrition and communication officers from CSA member organisations and officers of the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Power mapping exercise during the Nutrition Advocacy Training

The training covered topics including a briefing on the SUN Movement, the definition of advocacy, the tools and building blocks of advocacy campaigns, power mapping, the nutrition landscape and key nutrition messages among others. Trainees were made aware of two documents developed by MoH with support from SUN CSA: the Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilisation Strategy, and the Advocacy and Communications Toolkit.

Facilitators included the Chair of SUN CSA Titus Mung’ou, CSA Executive Committee member Lina Njoroge, Egerton University lecturer Faith Ndungi, former CSA Executive Committee member and now WFP’s staff Manaan Mumma, and UNICEF’s Nutrition Advocacy Specialist Olivier Germain.

Kenya’s SUN CSA now has over 40 ToTs who can lead training sessions of Nutrition and Food Security Advocacy (based on curricula content from ACTION Results UK and FAO).

Uganda – holding leaders accountable

Uganda Civil Society Coalition on Scaling Up Nutrition (UCCO-SUN) and its partners organised a high-level dialogue meeting at the end of November to discuss the implications of the 2015 Global Nutrition report, 2015 Global Hunger Index and the 2015 Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index reports.

The meeting brought together representatives from government line ministries (OPM, MoH, Agriculture, Gender, Finance), members of parliament and local government, with representatives of international donor agencies, civil society, academia, private sector and the media.

The aim of the meeting – organised in partnership with the Hunger Project, Concern Worldwide, UGAN and the UN REACH – was to start building political momentum on nutrition and to engage media interest ahead of Uganda’s elections in 2016.

The high level dialogue was organised in Kampala under the theme ‘Holding Leaders Accountable for Nutrition; Implications of the Global Nutrition Report 2015, the Global Hunger Index 2015 and the Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index 2015 on Uganda’s Post 2015 Nutrition Agenda’

The aim is to maintain the momentum achieved following the celebrations to mark the Africa Day of Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS) in October 2015. Bringing together politicians and media during this period of political campaigning is a chance to put nutrition firmly on the agenda of all candidates in the run up to the elections.

UCCO hoped the meeting would also highlight the voice of the civil society in holding political leaders accountable for nutrition.