With preparation starting in 2024 with the Global Adolescent Nutrition Network’s (GANN) ‘Include Adolescent Nutrition in N4G Paris 2025’ initiative and in collaboration with Nutrition Dialogues, ENN’s representatives — Anne Walsh, Philip James and Hannah Fletcher — were delighted to have the opportunity to attend many of the Side Events in the run-up to the main Summit.
Action Contre la Faim (ACF) led an ambitious plan to draw together a two-day programme of Civil Society Organisation (CSO) side events. Under high pressure due to a short timeframe and amid a highly challenging global political, and more specifically humanitarian nutrition landscape, it was encouraging to see a wide variety of topics and voices represented at the CSO Pavillion programme of Side Events on the 23rd and 24th March. Topics included immunisation-nutrition-integration, finance systems to improve nutrition, and how to better listen to adolescents' voices in nutrition programming. The Side Events were well attended by governments, NGOs, donors, researchers, and advocacy teams, all hoping to ensure that N4G commitments deliver measurable and lasting change.
In addition to attending many of the Side Events, the ENN team played a key role in the organisation and facilitation of the following events:
- ‘How to fix the financing system for RUTF and other specialised foods’, an event led by ALIMA in collaboration with Global Health Advocates, MSF and ENN, supported by ECF. Panellists shared experiences on the cost of the current global shortage of RUTF and explored potential solutions for securing sustainable funding for scaling up wasting treatment and prevention.
- ‘Closing the treatment gap: Innovative, cost-effective approaches to simplifying and scaling-up wasting treatment’, led by IRC and ALIMA, and moderated by ENN. Panellists presented evidence and programmatic learning on simplified protocols for wasting treatment and discussed how to integrate these protocols into national guidelines and programmes.
- The GANN, in collaboration with Save the Children, UNICEF, Sight and Life, SUN, and the Civil Society Network, held an event titled ‘Adolescent nutrition: Investing in the now & the future’, featuring youth partners who emphasised the critical importance of youth and adolescent voices in driving actionable change.
As the week transitions from the Side Events to the Summit itself, we look forward to hearing the outcomes of the high-level events. We trust that there will be concrete pledges that will guide continued investment, and support ways to counter the recent major cuts in funding and resulting instability and uncertainty, whilst still reaching the goal of improving nutrition outcomes for vulnerable populations globally.
To contribute to the cause, ENN has registered its own commitment in the Nutrition Accountability Framework for N4G Paris, with the goal of developing the GANN into a more representative network of actors. We commit to growing the number of GANN members from low- and middle- income countries by 100% over the next 4 years.
ENN also signed up to the Global Compact for Nutrition Integration and Nigel Tricks, ENN’s CEO, attended the launch, hosted by FCDO, the Government of Nigeria, the World Bank and IFAD and CIFF. We are pleased that the compact has provided the opportunity to re-centre nutrition at the heart of national and international investment and drawing attention to the sector at this critical time.