SCN Symposium: ‘Nutrition in the context of crisis and conflict’

The ACC/Sub Committee on Nutrition (The UN System's Forum for Nutrition) 29th Session hosted a one day symposium on 'Nutrition in the Context of Crisis and Conflict' in Berlin, on the 12th of March 2002. The symposium was attended by representatives from a wide array of agencies including NGOs, the UN, governments, and research institutions (see page 26 for pictures of some of the participants).

Highlights of the symposium were a presentation made by Austin Davis (Director General of MSF Holland) who talked passionately about the undermining of humanitarian food aid by political agendas. Anna Taylor (SC UK) and Frances Mason (AAH) presented a paper on achievements in the emergency food and nutrition sector over the past 20 years. This was followed by a paper written by Helen Young, Yacob Aklilu and George Were on the role of livelihood support measures in reducing vulnerability and risk in complex emergencies. The paper was informed by three case studies (Kenya, Ethiopia, and southern Sudan).

In the afternoon there were presentations by Urban Jonsson (Working Group on Nutrition, Ethics and Human Rights) on 'The Right to Nutrition in Conflict Situations' and by Catherine Bertini (WFP) on 'Reaching Women: the Key to Better Nutrition in Humanitarian Crises'

This was followed by brief presentations by:

Susanne Jaspars on 'humanitarian principles and capacity building in emergency food distribution'

Manuel da Silva on 'Doing the right thing when minimum standards cannot be met'

Wolfgang Heinrich on 'Collaborative learning from experience- the local capacities for peace project'

Alain Mourey on 'how transferable are humanitarian funds from live-saving initiatives to programmes that support livelihoods'.

These presenters then participated in a panel discussion with questions from the floor.

The symposium ended with a presentation by Soha Moussa (Tufts University) on 'school feeding in crisis and conflict'.

As always the SCN symposium and session proved informative and interesting but also provided an excellent forum for networking and exchange. The various working groups shared work completed through the year and set the agenda for the coming year.

The next issue of Field Exchange will contain a number of summaries of key presentations and papers.