Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

In the stream of events following the 2014 ICN2, and under the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition, FAO and WHO co-convened the International

Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Improved Nutrition in December 2016. This Symposium is being replicated at regional level,

to better address challenges specific to each region. Regional symposia for Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific and Africa have been

successfully held in the past months.

Video recordings and materials can be accessed from www.fao.org/about/meetings/sustainable-food-systems-nutrition-symposium/regional-symposia

The next in line is the Europe and Central Asia symposium, starting Monday 4th December at 9 AM Rome time, GMT+1

Plenary Sessions will be LIVESTREAMED throughout the two-days symposium at the following urls:

LIVE STREAM DAY 1 (4 December 2017) :

• Morning Session: www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/4542/icode/
• Afternoon Session: www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/4544/icode/

LIVE STREAM DAY 2 (5 December 2017) :

- Morning Session: www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/4543/icode/

- Afternoon Session: www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/4546/icode/

Recordings of ALL sessions will be available online after the event.

DESCRIPTION:

The symposium will provide a platform for multi-sectoral consultation, exchange of knowledge, views, practical solutions, good practices, experiences and lessons learned from the implementation of policy options and strategies to improve the nutritional status and health of all groups of population, available options that each food systems' element can bring to address dietary gaps and opportunities for multi-sectoral alignment and coherence, actions to leverage for sustainability.

The symposium will discuss ways to address the multiple challenges of all forms of malnutrition and identify opportunities to address them in a multi-sectorally integrated manner through four thematic areas that are essential for achieving healthy, diversified and balanced diets:

(1) Nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems;

(2) Food demand and food environment;

(3) Improving nutrition of vulnerable groups;

(4) Governance, leadership and accountability for nutrition.

RESOURCES :

· Web page: www.fao.org/europe/events/detail-events/en/c/1034293/

· Programme: www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/reu/europe/documents/events2017/FNsymp/Programme_en.pdf

 The Asia Pacific Symposium (10-11 November 2017, Bangkok) links to the FAO and WHO International Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Improved Nutrition held in Rome in December 2016, and is one of four follow-up events focused on specific world regions. The aims are to enhance agriculture and food systems’ visibility, create policy and programme options, promote sustainable diets and build partnerships through taking stock of evidence on transformational change in food systems toward sustainability, and their link to positive health and nutrition outcomes.  The Symposium will also develop and strengthen information platforms on nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems for countries in the region so that they can share that knowledge amongst consumers, producers and other stakeholders. Major interventions for good nutrition governance and effective local level implementation will be identified and promoted. 

The Asia-Pacific region, home to most of the world’s undernourished people, needs urgent action to improve diets and reset its food systems which are critical to the delivery of healthy, nutritious foods, FAO said today. According to the findings of FAO’s 2017 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition report, there is a pressing need to tackle malnutrition alongside further promotion of the consumption of healthier foods while curbing the growth in consumption of unhealthy foods.