From January 2021 the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN) and UN Network for SUN (UNN) secretariats will merge to form UN Nutrition.
In 2020 UN Nutrition was established though the UNSCN and UNN secretariats worked to complete their existing work plans, as of January 1st 2021 there will be one name, one work plan and one secretariat under UN Nutrition.
UN Nutrition is an UN inter-agency coordination and collaboration mechanism for nutrition at the global and country levels. By harnessing the complementary nature of the two entities, UN Nutrition responds to the changing nutrition landscape to increase efficiencies for more integrated and streamlined efforts to end malnutrition in all its forms.
This ambitious reform process started in early 2018, under the guidance of the former Chair of UNSCN, Ms Cornelia Richter, who concluded her mandate in October 2019. A year ago, Mr Amir Abdulla, Deputy Executive Director of WFP, was appointed ad interim Chair of UNSCN, guiding the whole process to a successful conclusion.
Now that UN Nutrition has become a reality, the Principals of the five constituent members -FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO- have unanimously accepted the appointment of Dr. Naoko Yamamoto, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage and Health Systems, as the Chair of UN Nutrition for the years 2021 and 2022.
“2021 will be a monumental year for nutrition. The formation of UN Nutrition reflects United Nations agencies’ readiness to maximize the opportunities presented and work together to end all forms of malnutrition. As UN Nutrition we will speak with one, united voice on nutrition and harness the momentum of UNSCN and UNN to improve policy coherence and impact at both the global and country level.”
– Dr. Naoko Yamamoto, Chair of UN Nutrition
Farewells and Hello’s within the Steering Committee
In the last few months, Ms Lauren Landis (former Director of Nutrition, WFP) and Dr Fatiha Terki (former Director a.i. of Nutrition, WFP) have concluded their terms as members of our Steering Committee. In addition, Dr Anna Lartey recently announced her retirement from the position of Director of the Food and Nutrition Division in FAO. Both Anna and Lauren have represented the UN constituency on the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Executive Committee in recent years, including during the efforts to develop the Movement’s new strategy.
We take this opportunity to thank them for their commitment and precious contribution to the work of UNSCN and UNN as well as their dedication to bring nutrition front and center in their own agencies and of the global agenda. Furthermore, as representatives of the hosting agencies of the two secretariats, they have always supported the teams and have fully engaged in the reform process, contributing to the establishment of UN Nutrition.
Thank you and we wish you all the best for your future endeavours!
We also say hello to Ms Allison Oman Lawi as the acting Nutrition Director for WFP, and Ms Nancy Aburto as the acting Nutrition Director for FAO, who have taken up the mantel as Steering Committee representatives as we move towards UN Nutrition.
Creating a single entity
The merger of the UN Network for the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement and the UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN) to form UN Nutrition was formally announced at the ECOSOC Management Segment in July 2020. The merger is in line with the ambitions set out by the UN Reform and with Recommendation 7 of the ICN2 Framework for Action.
The UNSCN was established by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1977 to spearhead global nutrition policy coherence and UN coordination. The UN Network for SUN was established by the Principals of FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO in 2013, in support of the SUN Movement and took the lead in driving efforts on nutrition at the country level.
By harnessing the complementary nature of the two entities, UN Nutrition responds to the changing global and country-level nutrition landscape to increase efficiencies for more integrated and streamlined efforts to end malnutrition in all its forms.
Membership is open to all UN entities aiming to mainstream nutrition to enhance their mandates.
This post will expire on Thursday January 28th, 2021 5:08pm
