1. The joint initiative by FAO and WHO to convene the International Conference on Nutrition (ICN) was undertaken with the recognition that, notwithstanding the significant progress made worldwide in increasing food supplies and improving health and social services, hunger and malnutrition exist in some form in almost every country. At the time of the ICN, an estimated 800 million people were unable to obtain sufficient food to meet minimum energy needs, and over 192 million children were suffering from protein-energy malnutrition (PEM). Approximately 2 000 million were affected by various micronutrient deficiencies and many more people were suffering from diseases caused by contaminated food and water. In addition, chronic diet-related non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases and some cancers, were emerging public health problems in most countries. Increasing public awareness of nutritional problems worldwide, promoting effective strategies and actions to address these problems, and encouraging the political commitment necessary to do so were primary purposes for holding the ICN.
2. When the Member Governments of FAO and WHO met in Rome in December 1992 for the ICN they declared hunger and malnutrition unacceptable in a world with both the knowledge and the resources to eliminate these devastating conditions. Each of the 159 participating countries and the EC re-affirmed their determination to ensure sustained nutritional well-being for all people and committed themselves to intensifying efforts to achieve this goal by unanimously adopting the World Declaration and Plan of Action for Nutrition. The participating UN agencies confirmed their dedication to support countries in these efforts and to give priority to their nutrition-related activities and programmes.
3. There is much evidence that the ICN has been successful in achieving its primary purposes. Countries overwhelmingly report a resurgence of interest, commitment and activities to improve the nutritional status of their populations. There is equally clear evidence that there is no room for complacency with the progress made to date; much remains to be achieved. Progress in improving food supplies and nutritional well-being continues to bypass many countries and population groups. Access to food remains a serious problem in many countries, even where there are adequate national food supplies. Some countries have even suffered setbacks in their already fragile food and nutrition conditions. In sub-Saharan Africa the situation shows continued deterioration and the prospects for significant improvement are low. Many countries, especially in Africa, continue to face dire food emergencies or highly unstable food supply situations. Furthermore, there are an estimated 16 million refugees and at least another 25 million internally displaced persons.
4. Furthermore, more than 30% of the world's under-five-year-old children are still malnourished in terms of underweight. Using the WHO Global Database on Child Growth, globally it is projected that the prevalence of protein-energy malnutrition in children aged under five years in developing countries will have progressively fallen from 42.6% in 1975 to 34.6% in 1995. However, in some regions this fall in percentage prevalence has not been as rapid as the rise in population. The result is that in some regions, such as Africa and South Asia, the actual number of malnourished children has risen. Thus, the absolute number of children worldwide who are underweight will have risen from 195 million in 1975 to an estimated 200 million in 1995, which means that more than one-third of the world's under-five population will still be malnourished: Clearly, the continued, concerted effort of all partners in development is required if the goals of the ICN are to be achieved.
5. The Plan of Action for Nutrition specifically calls for the organizing agencies to monitor and evaluate progress made in implementing the Plan. FAO and WHO, since the early preparatory phase of the ICN, have presented periodic reports to the FAO Conference, World Health Assembly, FAO Council, WHO Executive Board Meeting, the FAO and WHO Regional Conferences and Committee meetings, as well as other major FAO and WHO governing body meetings. For the preparation of this progress report all member governments and relevant agencies of the United Nations were invited to contribute a review and evaluation of their efforts to achieve the ICN goals, assessing in particular the impact that the entire ICN process is having on various policies, programmes and activities to improve nutritional well-being. The response from countries to this request has been strong, with over 140 countries and territories providing progress reports to FAO or WHO. This report is based on the information contributed by countries and on a review of the national plans which have been received by FAO and WHO to date.
