Technical Meeting on Nutrition in Oxford, UK (October 2014): Meeting summary

The first Technical Meeting on Nutrition (TMN) was convened by the ENN in Oxford from October 7th to 9th 2014 and was attended by around 120 delegates comprising country representatives, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organisations, donors, academics and independents from nutrition and other sectors. The TMN aimed to provide a forum to address specific technical, programming and policy issues relevant to nutrition in emergencies and high burden contexts, share and appraise research, discuss on-going challenges, and provide ‘space’ for informal technical exchange.

Plenary sessions covered topics such as the current ‘nutrition architecture’, the links between nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); cash transfers; the nutrition response to the Syria emergency; links between wasting and stunting; and national nutrition policy and programming. Three parallel sessions on severe acute malnutrition (SAM) allowed time for detailed discussion of important technical issues and market place sessions, a debate and lunchtime sessions provided more opportunities for participation and sharing.

Key themes and learning that emerged over the three days included:

• No country is free from malnutrition; all countries face burdens of under nutrition and overweight/obesity and these often co-exist.
• Nutrition-sensitive spending needs to increase and there is a need for more solid evidence (both for WASH and cash) and a greater understanding of the ‘how to’. In the meantime, we need to take something of a ‘leap of faith’ in nutrition sensitive programming.
• Common messaging would considerably help in our discussions with other sectors.
• Nutrition specific work requires a more ‘holistic’ approach, with less division between the different forms of undernutrition (e.g. stunting and wasting).
• There is a potential new window of opportunity in the adolescence years for linear catch-up growth and more evidence is required in this area. 
• We need more constructive engagement with the private sector.

Three fundamental ‘needs’ to effect better nutrition outcomes were repeatedly raised during the meeting; strengthened Leadership, Coordination and Accountability. The ENN hopes that the TMN will be established as a regular forum where technical, research, programming and policy issues related to nutrition can be discussed.

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