ST4N, UNICEF and WFP launch Global Resilience Report
Standing Together for Nutrition Consortium (ST4N), in collaboration with United Nations agencies UNICEF and the World Food Programme, releases the Global Resilience Report.
This milestone report builds on the lessons of the polycrisis, a devastating combination of factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and the ripple effects of the economic crisis, to help protect nutrition in future crises. We make policy recommendations. The report highlights the positive impact that can be achieved by governments acting quickly and strengthening the adaptive and absorptive capacity of systems. Examples include shifting essential nutrition services between delivery platforms, prioritizing support for the most vulnerable, accessing adaptive social protection programs, and scaling up food. Employing reinforcement, social and behavior change programs.
Many countries are intentionally investing in strengthening programs and policies to be better equipped and increase accountability for nutrition outcomes. This report highlights these success stories from around the world. For example, India’s response to the political crisis has been planned, swift and flexible, mobilizing the country’s extensive social protection and other systems to provide nutritious meals, essential services and active nutrition. and protected access to care practices and improved food security. For the most vulnerable. Ghana adapted its iron-folate program to be delivered through the health system rather than schools, helping maintain insurance coverage during school closures. Indonesia leveraged community capacity by using mobile technology for training and adapting its early detection program for acute malnutrition in children to a family-centered approach.
The report also documents the devastating effects of the polycrisis on health and nutrition. From 2020 to 2022, the number of children with acute malnutrition increased sharply (by 20%) in countries most affected by the global food and nutrition crisis and remains above pre-pandemic levels. Acute malnutrition among pregnant and lactating women and adolescent girls increased by 25% in the same countries. In 2022, 391 million more people worldwide will face food insecurity than in 2020, with women bearing the greatest burden.
The report authors believe that all systems (food, health, school nutrition, WASH, social protection) must be adaptive, absorbing and transformative to increase resilience in the face of crises. It recommends that countries adopt enabling policies and programs. A focus on preventing malnutrition requires greater predictability and flexibility in financing to build stronger and more resilient systems. Improved data collection and more robust information systems can help detect changes in nutritional determinants earlier and better target vulnerable households.
Saskia Osendarp, Executive Director of the Micronutrient Forum, said: “Countries have responded in extraordinary ways to protect nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises described in this report. It’s reassuring to know that.” “There is now a unique opportunity to leverage these lessons on resilience to build more sustainable systems and a healthier and more equitable future for children and families around the world.
