Investing in women’s nutrition for healthy, smart and more sustainable societies

 

Investing in women’s nutrition for healthy, smart and more sustainable societies

Remarks by Carla Mucavi, FAO LON Director

 

Thank you Madam Chair, for giving me the floor.

For the sake of time, allow me to make very brief remarks to try to sum up this meeting after the excellent presentations/interventions we heard today from the distinguished panelists, including the First Lady of Zambia.

The main message I would like to highlight is that investing in nutrition pays huge dividends, benefiting all levels of society. And that investing in women is a smart way to invest in nutrition. When women have greater control over the family budget this is likely to lead to improved health, nutrition and education outcomes for their families, as they spend more of the income than men do on food, health, clothing and education for their children.

The UN Decade of Action for Nutrition, which is currently under negotiation by member states, provides us a valuable instrument to advance our efforts in raising nutrition standards and highlighting the important role that women play in this effort. It is also a way to highlight the importance of nutrition and its relationship to other goals. This link works both ways. While improving nutrition is essential to reach goals such as ending hunger, poverty, ensuring good health and improving access to decent jobs, reaching other SDGs such as ensuring access to clean water and sanitation, reducing inequalities and empowering women are also crucial to improve our nutrition standards.

 

To conclude, let me re-iterate that gender-sensitive interventions and investments that promote gender equality and empower women can improve their nutritional and health status, and generate significant gains for society as a whole.

Nourish the woman, nourish the child, nourish the nation, and nourish the future…

Thank you.