Tom Arnold on the continued need to scale up nutrition politically
Channel: Global Donor Platform for Rural Development
Date: 25/02/2015

Nutrition is central to long-term development and related direct interventions are known for big payoffs. Tom Arnold thinks the subject needs more political attention and policy focus. But how can official commitments be put into action on the ground?

Tom Arnold, interim coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement spoke to the Platform secretariat about key aspects for translating the high-level commitments and recommendations made at ICN2 conference into practice that make a difference for the livelihood of individuals as well as for entire societies in the long run.

“Where the action really matters is at the country-level.“ Tom said. “I believe strongly that if we are to make real progress in reducing undernutrition—whether it is what we call “hidden hunger” or undernutrition, and obesity—we need key stakeholders.”

In terms of donor support, he said that different donors had different priorities. But of them had recognised that nutrition had to be part of any long-term development vision. Some donors showed leadership in this field, givening it much greater priority within their own donor policy. The very specific question, however, facing the development community later this year was related to the decisions on the sustainable development goals -- to be taken in New York in September. It was critical as it was really about attempting to set the development policy agenda for the next two decades. Nutrition as a foundation stone for development would need to get reflected adequately in those decisions. 

Transcript at http://www.donorplatform.org/nutrition-and-agricultural-development/interviews/1330-tom-arnold-on-the-continued-need-to-scale-up-nutrition-politically#transcript