Nutrition on global agenda: GA adopts resolution on implementation of Decade of Action
The 72nd Session of the General Assembly adopted by consensus today a resolution on the implementation of the United Nations Decade on Nutrition (2016-2025) recognizing commitments made by Member States and other actors and exhorting further action to ensure food security and nutrition for all.
Among the first Member States to announce nutrition commitments in the context of the Decade, Ecuador presented the draft resolution at the General Assembly, stressing that its aim was to increase the political relevance of the execution of activities on nutrition within the framework of the Decade’s work programme.
The resolution emphasizes the need to eradicate hunger and prevent all forms of malnutrition worldwide and expresses concern with rise in hunger, warning that at the at the current pace, it will not be possible to achieve the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 2 by 2030. The number of undernourished people has been on the rise since 2014, reaching an estimated 815 million in 2016. Almost one third of women of reproductive age worldwide suffer from anaemia and, despite considerable reduction in the global prevalence of stunting between 2005 and 2017, 150.8 million children under 5 years of age still suffer from stunted growth.
The resolution took note of the first implementation report of the Decade of Action prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), which outlines the work programme for the Decade and presents the commitments made by Member States, international agencies and non-state actors in the context of the Decade. The work programme also foresees an open and inclusive dialogue among all stakeholders to evaluate the progress of the Nutrition Decade at mid-term (2020-2021) and at the end of the Nutrition Decade (2025).
The General Assembly proclaimed the United Nations Decade on Nutrition at its 70th Session, following a request of the Rome Declaration on Nutrition of the 2nd International Conference on Nutrition, co-organized by FAO and WHO in Rome in 2014. The resolution also called on FAO and WHO to lead the implementation of the Decade, in collaboration with other actors.