Report Summaries

Responding to nutrition in emergencies
within the climate crisis
This is a summary of the following paper: Nutrition in emergencies and the climate crisis:
Global nutrition cluster scoping and options paper (2024).
https://www.nutritioncluster.net/resources/nie-and-climate-crisis-global-nutritioncluster-scoping-and-options-paperClimate change is one of the world’s
most pressing challenges, affecting up to 3.6 billion people in highly vulnerable contexts. The Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) plays a crucial rolein addressing this crisis within its humanitarian mandate, focusing on climate and weather
shocks and seasonality shifts because of theirimpact on nutrition outcomes and their underlying causes. The GNC also considers environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions
in its climate crisis work, given how environmental degradation exacerbates vulnerabilities
and the climate crisis.
The GNC has been refining its approach tonutrition in emergencies (NIE) within the climate crisis, establishing a Climate Crisis Working Group and recognising climate as a strategic priority in 2023. The GNC commissioned
a scoping of evidence, priorities, and opportunities across stakeholders to enhance its approach to supporting country clusters, GNC

global partner agencies, and other global clusters in responding to NIE in the context of climate crisis. This scoping aimed to identify relevant opportunities for the GNC in the face ofthe changing humanitarian landscape due tothe increased frequency and severity of extreme
weather events, emerging risks like disease outbreaks, and the complex relationship between
nutrition and the climate crisis.
The scoping includes an initial articulationof a climate rationale for the GNC’s approach,
identifying action areas for climate crisis andNIE work and providing an overview of stakeholder needs and capacities. GNC stakeholders
emphasised the importance of addressing thisissue. Critical bottlenecks were identified, including existing challenges in NIE response, low
government priority of the climate crisis, limited capacity to integrate climate predictions into
country planning, and limited programmingand coordination frameworks for climate crisis
and NIE action.

Supporting infants aged undersix months with feeding
difficulties and disabilities
This is a summary of the following paper: ENN, MAMI Global Network(2024). Identifying and supporting infants under 6-months with feeding difficulties and disabilities: An overview of resources and evidence.
Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN), Oxford, UK.
https://www.ennonline.net/identifying-and-supporting-infants-with-feeding-difficulties-and-disabilities

F

eeding difficulties include a wide range
of issues related to eating or drinking that deviate from age-appropriate
norms, often associated with medical,
nutritional, feeding skill, and/or psychosocialfactors. These challenges can increase the riskof malnutrition and infections, as well as theonset or worsening of disabilities in children.
Studies indicate that feeding difficulties affecta substantial proportion of children, with estimates ranging from 25-45% among those without disabilities and between 80-90% amongchildren with disabilities.
Growing concerns about managing children
aged under six months experiencing feeding
difficulties or suspected/confirmed disabilities
highlight a lack of attention and evidence-based
guidance for this vulnerable age group. This has
prompted the compilation of essential resources aimed at supporting both infants and theirmothers. Disabilities are difficult to identify inchildren aged under six months and sometimes

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only realised when developmental milestones
are not being met. To address this, a documentcompiling key resources focused on children
aged under six months and their mothers wasdeveloped to help consolidate existing guidance
and research for mother–infant pairs. It is divided into four sections, with each providing a linkto and brief description of a relevant suggested/highlighted resource.
First, practical resources on assessment tools
are provided, with an emphasis on the significance of early detection of feeding difficulties ordisabilities in infants. These issues can be overlooked during breastfeeding initiation and before the introduction of semi-solid/solid foods,
when issues are more readily identifiable. Additionally, guidance is offered on providing caregivers with practical support to facilitate safe
and comfortable breastfeeding. The section also
provides general resources available that provide practical support for the feeding of infants
under six months with disabilities and their

FIELD EXCHANGE ISSUE 73, July 2024 www.ennonline.net/fex

To effectively address NIE in the climate crisis, the GNC supports a principled approachrather than a prescriptive one, described underfour key areas. First, climate and environmental justice, anti-oppression, and localisation, ensuring the GNC's work addresses and does notworsen the unequal effects of the climate crisis on people's nutrition status and vulnerability. Second, adopting a NIE climate crisis lens sothat climate crisis considerations are integrated
into existing tools and approaches, for example
strengthening climate risk in nutrition situation
analyses. Third, climate-adapted NIE, whereby
new coordination and programming approaches are developed for emerging climate-relatedrisks, for example promoting sustainable, local solutions for complementary foods for children in emergencies and fragile settings. Finally,
NIE climate and environmental impact mitigation, so that NIE programming mitigates negative climate and environmental impacts, for example in supply chains and waste management.
This approach leverages the GNC’s strategic
advantages, such as its extensive network, global reach, expertise in NIE and the climate crisis, and critical role in facilitating knowledge
exchange and coordination across various levels and clusters. The scoping supports the GNC
Climate Crisis Working Group’s activities, GNC
engagement with other clusters for the rollout of
the IASC Climate Crisis Roadmap, and preparation for the GNC’s next strategy.

mothers. Resources specific to certain
disabilities (e.g., cleft palate, Downs syndrome, etc.) are provided as well.
Secondly, a summary has been provided of some key policy documents related todisability. This includes organisational policies and guidance that have inclusive services and mainstream support in health andnutrition services.
Thirdly, a summary of the Disability Evidence Portal (DEP) is provided. This
portal has been established as “a knowledge exchange platform that seeks to enable and empower decision makers with evidence-based knowledge to make decisions on
how best to improve access, health, education,
livelihood and social outcomes for people withdisabilities worldwide… through acting as a repository of solutions, evidence and tools forstrengthening decision-making within Disability-Inclusive Development.”
This section also calls for more research ondisability inclusion for infants. This group is often excluded from research, which has led to alack of evidence on care required. Some of thereasons why more research is needed for thisage group include the fact that they are more
likely to be malnourished and that there are
long-term nutritional consequences of disability and exclusion of children with disabilities inmalnutrition protocols and guidelines.
The last section of the report provides asummary of ongoing initiatives that highlightthe work that could be relevant to advance
this agenda.