VATIS UPDATE Article

The member states of ASEAN have taken a major step forward in pledging to work across various government ministries to improve nutrition at national level and strengthen nutrition governance through inter-sectoral coordination. The multi-sectoral consultation, involving Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Rural Development, Planning and Social Welfare, are focusing on food security and nutrition to address all forms of malnutrition. The consultation, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the German Foundation GIZ, is the first of its kind in ASEAN.

It was convened to take forward the recommendations of the Rome Declaration on Nutrition from the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) in 2014 in order to lay a concrete foundation for promoting nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food-based approaches in ASEAN that would help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among the outcomes, the Rome Declaration on Nutrition stressed the need for government ministries to work together to achieve comprehensive improvements to nutrition at national level.