Statement from 1,000 Days Executive Director, Lucy Sullivan

November 21, 2014

This week leaders from over 190 governments gathered in Rome for the International
Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) to discuss and advance policy options and strategies to improve
food systems and peoples diets in order to more effectively address the worlds major
nutritional challenges. Twenty-two years since the first International Conference on Nutrition,
ICN2 has provided an historic moment for countries to demonstrate greater commitment to
ending malnutrition in all its formsfrom stunting to obesity.
We were encouraged to hear several Member States use their official statements during ICN2
to outline specific actions they plan to take at the country level to put peoples health and
nutrition at the center of our global food system.
Yet malnutrition is an urgent global challenge that the world has been far too slow to address.
Today, one out of every two people on the planet is undernourished, micronutrient deficient, or
obeseor some combination of all three. As Pope Francis made clear in his remarks during
ICN2, healthy food and good nutrition should be considered a human right, not a commodity to
be bought and sold.
Importantly, the ICN2 served as a platform to focus on action and accountability. In particular,
1,000 Days was pleased to support the World Health Organization (WHO) in launching a set of
six policy briefs to guide national and local policy-makers on evidence-based actions to scale up
in order to achieve the global nutrition targets by 2025. Moreover, as a member of the Global
Nutrition Report Stakeholder Group, we applaud the launch of the first-ever Global Nutrition
Report, which presents a comprehensive view of global and country-level progress against
malnutrition.
As the ICN2 comes to a close, we call on all countries to implement the policies and actions put
forward in the Framework for Action. We must ensure commitments turn into action, and actions
deliver results. Ultimately we must all roll up our sleeves and get to work, holding our
governmentsand ourselvesaccountable for delivering a food system that puts the health
and nutrition of all people at the center.