Optimism for the UN Proclamation of the Decade of Action on Nutrition: An African Perspective
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Global Health: Science and Practice
Abstract
On Friday, April 1, 2016, the United Nations (UN)
General Assembly proclaimed 2016 to 2025 as a
decade of action on nutrition.1 Writing as an African
living and working in sub-Saharan Africa, where up to
11% of gross domestic product (GDP) is lost to
malnutrition2 and where malnutrition is declining
rather too slowly for anyone’s liking, this proclamation
captured my attention. Another reason this is
significant for me and, I reckon, for many others is that
this year also marks the beginning of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs),3 which articulate achieving
zero hunger and the even more aspirational dream of
ending all forms of malnutrition by the year 2030. Later
this year in August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the
Nutrition for Growth Summit will also bring more
attention to efforts to eliminate malnutrition around
the world. Considering these and other events con aggregating around such a short duration, it would appear
to an outside observer that the world is set for a
momentous delivery of something really big for
nutrition.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
UN, Africa, Nutrition
Citation
Aryeetey R. Optimism for the UN proclamation of the decade of action on nutrition: an African perspective. Glob Health Sci Pract. 2016;4(2):354–355. http://dx.doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-16-00117