Conflict and political crises continue to dominate Afghanistan’s media profile. At the same time, there is another crisis that does not make it into the headlines. That is the silent crisis of malnutrition. This burden undermines the development efforts of all stakeholders: the government, the private sector, civil society, the UN and other development partners.
Two-thirds of all countries mandate food fortification to combat hidden hunger, yet many are not necessarily translating policy into improved nutrition, according to new data from the Global Fortification Data Exchange (GFDx). These countries may be missing an immense opportunity to improve the health of children and mothers, bolster communities, and boost national economies.
GAIN has improved its performance on gender equality in 2019 Global Health 50/50: Equality Works report. Following a positive score in the 2018 report with room for improvement, GAIN has actively engaged in the strengthening its commitment to gender equality, by making its workplace gender policy publicly available and balancing board parity. Thanks to internal efforts, these indicators marked green on the 2019 edition.
FAO and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) have agreed to join forces to increase the availability and affordability of nutritious food for all in developing countries. The two organisations will also work to make urban food systems more nutrition-sensitive, through support to GAIN’s Urban Governance for Nutrition Programme and FAO’s Urban Food Agenda.
Nearly 19 million babies born globally every year – 14% – are at risk of permanent yet preventable brain damage and reduced cognitive function due to a lack of iodine in the earliest years of life, according to a new joint report by UNICEF and GAIN released today. More than 1 in 4 of these children – 4.3 million – lives in South Asia.
An international research team, led by ETH Zurich in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), and with inputs from UNICEF, demonstrate that if most salt for human consumption is iodized, salt will provide sufficient dietary iodine to all population groups.
Scientists fear up to 50% of all newborns in Europe do not reach their full cognitive potential due to iodine deficiency. Today with the Krakow Declaration on Iodine presented at the Jagiellonian University, scientists from the EUfunded project EUthyroid, supported by several stakeholder organisations, call on European policy-makers to support measures to eliminate iodine deficiency.
GAIN and RUAF announce their new partnership to work with city governments to improve urban nutrition as a key component of sustainable urban food systems. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in May 2018 as part of the Urban Governance for Nutrition Programme, a programme designed to strengthen governance around nutrition and improve consumption of safe and nutritious food.
A new report calls for governments and companies to join forces to tackle global malnutrition, saying that achievement of the nutrition-related UN Sustainable Development Goals requires leveraging the resources of firms, financiers and shareholders, to work with civil society stakeholders to support the nutrition priorities of governments.
GAIN and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) are to team up to work to advance their shared vision of creating sustainable food systems in Africa. GAIN Executive Director, Lawrence Haddad and AGRA President, Dr Agnes Kalibata signed the Memorandum of Understanding paving the way for the partnership at the World Economic Forum in Davos.