Nutrition Goals For Nutrition

Step 1. Prioritise the 1,000-day window: 3.1 million children die every year due to malnutrition. An additional 165 million children who manage to survive malnutrition in their early years experience stunted growth and cognitive development, undermining their future productivity and therefore income. We need to focus on nutrition of mothers and children during a child’s first 1,000 days, an effort that can have long-term consequences for growth, health and intellectual capacity. (One.org, 2013)

Step 2. Bring girls’ health into focus: More than one in four children born in low- and middle-income countries are underweight for their age. In addition, most pregnant women living in these countries cannot access nutrition services until the fifth

Align other sectors with nutrition goals: It seems common sense that agriculture, social safety nets and other important sectors could also play a role in advancing nutrition progress. Yet until this point, these programs have often not been designed, implemented or evaluated with improved nutrition outcomes in mind. Going forward, countries should take the opportunity to better integrate nutrition goals into these sectors. Donors should also support rigorous impact evaluations and studies to build a richer evidence base of what works with nutrition-sensitive approaches in agriculture, social safety nets and other sectors.

Step 5. Devote funding to nutrition programs: The economic toll of malnutrition, on individuals and even countries, is astonishing. Malnutrition can rob individuals of up to 10 percent of their annual earnings and cost African countries up to 11 percent of their annual GDP. The good news is malnutrition solutions offer sound investments for countries’ futures. However, many national nutrition plans are only 20 percent funded. Countries must start prioritising nutrition programs within their national

Sustain global commitment: Progress towards reducing malnutrition will require a steadfast commitment from the international community. USAID recently pledged $1 billion for nutrition-specific interventions and nearly $9 billion for nutrition-sensitive activities for 2012 to 2014, and other countries have similarly stepped up their commitments.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti – USAID/Haiti launched a four-year food security program today to improve nutrition and access to locally produced foods for the most vulnerable households in Haiti. The project, the Kore Lavi Program, is part of the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiatives Feed the Future and Title II. These programs work with USAID’s partner countries around the world to develop their agriculture sectors and reduce food insecurity. It will be implemented by CARE International.

Food production and the means to purchase sufficient food are two key factors that negatively impact the food security of Haitians. Solutions must include effective mechanism to help identify and assist people suffering from food