5th Report of the World Nutrition Situation

The United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN) recently published its 5th Report on the world nutrition situation under the title "Nutrition for Improved Development Outcomes".

The Standing Committee's main goal is to serve as a focal point in the promotion of harmonized nutrition policies and strategies throughout the UN system, and to strengthen collaboration with other partners for accelerated and more effective action against malnutrition. The SCN comprises 18 UN agencies and actively works with bilateral donor agencies as well as several non governmental organizations.

The nutrition perspective given in this report is greatly inspired by the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) since the nutritional status is used as an indicator of progress towards the fulfilment of the first MDG of eradicating poverty and hunger. However, the report seeks to go beyond the conception of nutrition as a mere indicator and cites evidence of the linkages between nutrition and other development outcomes.

The report dedicates four separate chapters to key development mechanisms highlighting the way a nutrition perspective can enhance strategic thinking in these areas. This report constitutes and important tool for individuals, civil society organizations, governments and non-governmental organizations who work in the area of malnutrition reduction, as it presents important data of the world nutrition situation.

To download the 5th Report of the World Nutrition Situation, please visit the website of the SCN at http://www.unsystem.org/scn/

The SCN also publishes a newsletter, SCN News which is published twice a year with information on developments in international nutrition. SCN News also contributes to the sharing of experience in nutrition. To download the latest issue of the newsletter please click here.