N4D director Chris Leather took part in a recent two-day retreat in Ottawa to reimagine Canada’s role in global nutrition. The event, organised by Action Against Hunger Canada and the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health(CanWaCH), brought together leaders and experts from the public, private, philanthropic, academic and civil society sectors, both in-country and from around the world. Canada’s Secretary of State for International Development, the Honourable Randeep Sarai participated in the retreat, reflecting leadership at the highest level.
The issue on the table was how Canadian nutrition actors can invest strategically to save lives and sustain long-term impact in the current era of growing humanitarian needs, constrained budgets and shifting global priorities. Chris was a participant in a panel discussion on how to prevent malnutrition and address the underlying drivers, at the same time as saving lives (aka #HDPNexus), together with Jean-Bernard Parenteau, Adugna Kebede Yimam Vanessa Pike, MPH, RD and Shabina Raza Country Director Nutrition International Pakistan
Key messages from the event were that too often, severely malnourished children who have been successfully treated are returning for treatment a few weeks or months later because the underlying causes of malnutrition are not being addressed. Participants agreed that “we know what needs to be done – the necessary approach is outlined in multiple international agreements e.g., Grand Bargain, the New Deal on Engagement in Fragile States, the OECD DAC Recommendation on the Nexus approach. We need to get on and operationalise what we already know. “ Moreover, success is possible and there are examples of progress in advancing a Nexus approach to nutrition in Ethiopia, Pakistan and Yemen.
Canada has a huge opportunity to build on its successes to date and to take an even stronger lead role in accelerating progress in the fight against malnutrition by:
- Supporting local & national actors to take the lead in prioritising & coordinating action to ensure alignment with agreed priorities;
- Ensuring humanitarian principles are applied appropriately, avoiding missed opportunities to support local and national leadership;
- Promoting better understanding of political economies to identify and support country partners who share common values and goals;
- Preventing the collapse of state institutions & ensuring sustained public service delivery even in contexts where relations with political authorities are difficult;
- Making the case for investing in sustainable approaches to tackle undernutrition in high burden countries and in donor countries; and
- Fostering stronger international cooperation, e.g., by ensuring continuity of the Nutrition for Growth process building on the outstanding success of #N4GParis, and by supporting the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movementto drive forward multisectoral, country-led approaches.
A report based on these discussions will be released soon, outlining policy and programmatic steps to strengthen Canada’s impact in global nutrition.
