News

FENS issues guidance for writing and reviewing press releases

The Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) has issued guidance for writing and reviewing press releases. It is now available and an article about the guidelines has been published in the European Journal of Nutrition.

Having identified issues with the credibility and capability of human nutrition research, the FENS President is currently sponsoring an activity aimed at improving standards and assuring trust in the science of nutrition. This activity involves three working groups looking into concepts and methodologies; organisation, capabilities and funding; and external communication and public trust. Working Group 3, which is composed of 20 nutrition scientists from across Europe, has been charged with developing guidance to assure and promote stakeholder trust in nutrition science. The apparent lack of a standardised approach to disseminating nutrition research findings to key stakeholders such as clinicians and the general public has potentially contributed to a feeling of confusion and mistrust, thereby undermining the credibility of the science of nutrition. The Working Group identified a need to develop guidance for the communication of the findings of research in nutrition science to the public with a focus on accuracy of what is reported and on the language used.

The Working Group developed a handbook to support and guide nutrition scientists in improving the quality and clarity of press releases related to their work by detailing step-by-step guidance for writing and reviewing press releases.

There are also easy-to-use checklists for writing and reviewing a press release and a template for scoring a press release.

The handbook is free and available to download from the FENS website.

The FENS Working Groups will be holding symposia on this research during the 14th European Nutrition Conference in Belgrade, Serbia from 14 – 17 November 2023. Abstract submission is still open until 30 April 2023. Visit fens2023.org to submit an abstract or to register for the conference.

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IAEA: eNewsletter The Nutritional & Health-related Environmental Studies Section

Our colleagues at IAEA are excited to share their latest eNewsletter, including the launch of the UN Nutrition Strategy 2022- 2030. Stineke Oenema, Executive Secretary of UN-Nutrition, editor-in-chief of the strategy also co-chairs the IUNS Task Force on Sustainable Diets.

Also in this issue:

  • Proposition to create an online stable isotope user group
  • Special collection “Nuclear Techniques in Nutrition Research” in the Journal of Nutrition
  • Apply to the IAEA PhD Sandwich Fellowship Programme
  • Nuclear Explained – IAEA’s Podcast
  • Nuclear Data Reveals How Much Water You Should Drink Daily
  • Relation between breast milk intake and maternal education
  • Inaugural issue of the UN Nutrition Journal

Read more

Nutrition at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27)

The UN-Nutrition has announced the holding of 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27)in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from 6 to 18 November. 

More than 45,000 persons representing Parties, UN and regional organisations, companies, civil society, the scientific community, indigenous and local communities enrolled to enhance and accelerate climate action and follow through on collective commitments and pledges.

Food systems are on the COP27 agenda this year like never before. UN-Nutrition, the United Nations coordinating mechanism for nutrition, will continue to actively engage in raising awareness about the interconnections between diets, food systems, and climate change, as well as emphasising the importance of addressing nutritional and environmental challenges through collaborative policy options that generate co-benefits for people and the planet. UN agencies play an important role in assisting international, national, and subnational policymakers in developing evidence-based policies and programmes that benefit nutrition and the environment. At COP27, UN-Nutrition will advocate for the inclusion of healthy diets derived from sustainable food systems and improved nutrition in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) (NAPs).

The following are some of the events that will be held that are related to nutrition:

  • For the first time in the history of the UN Conference of Parties, COP27 will have a pavilion dedicated to food and agriculture. Organized by FAO, CGIAR and The Rockefeller Foundation, the Food and Agriculture Pavilion will host a rich program of events that will show how agrifood systems are part of the solution to the climate crisis, bringing together government and community leaders, farmers, academics and other experts who are taking decisions on innovative solutions to help countries take effective climate action.

Check out the Food and Agriculture Pavilion program here: https://cop27foodpavilion.cgiar.org/

  • Small-scale farmers produce up to 80 per cent of the food in developing countries but receive less than 1.7 per cent of climate finance. Also this year, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will be at COP27 to amplify the voices of small-scale producers and promote their role in climate change responses and resilient food systems.

Check out the IFAD Pavilion program here: https://www.ifad.org/en/web/events/cop27

  • Climate change is already affecting people’s health and will continue to do so at an accelerating rate unless urgent action is taken. The World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust and partners will host the Health Pavilion that will convene the global health community and its partners to ensure health and equity are placed at the center of the climate negotiations.

Check out the Health Pavilion program here: https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2022/11/06/default-calendar/cop27-health-pavilion

The International Science Council has announced that Dr Salvatore Aricò will take on the role of CEO

IUNS, as an ISC member, is pleased to share their announcement of the appointment of Dr Salvatore Aricò as Chief Executive Officer of The International Science Council. Dr Aricò will take over as CEO in January 2023, succeeding Dr Heide Hackmann.

Salvatore brings 30 years of international scientific experience, including as Head of Ocean Science at the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO), Executive Secretary of the United Nations Secretary-Scientific General’s Advisory Board, Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the United Nations University, and Chief of Programme at the Convention on Biological Diversity.

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IAEA Newsletter

The Nutritional & Health-related Environmental Studies Section is excited to share its second eNewsletter. 

In this issue:

  • A revised e-learning experience
  • A new research project and a new database on breast milk intake
  • The first ‘Nuclear in Nutrition’ interview
  • Highlights on the Coalition of Action for Healthy Diets for All

View the newsletter here

Establishing a Federation of Oceanic Nutrition Societies (FONS)

FONS was approved by the IUNS General Assembly in 2013 in Granada at their annual general meeting. Initial progress to establish a FONS was slow, but networks created between nutrition professionals through the Oceanic Nutrition Leadership platform (ONLP) have enabled its progress.

On March 9th, a virtual half-day workshop was held to brainstorm the viability of establishing a FONS affiliated with IUNS. The workshop and preceding stakeholder engagement activity were funded by IUNS, the Australian Nutrition Trust Fund (ANTF), and the Nutrition Society of Australia (NSA). The workshop brought together 20 stakeholders from eight countries across the Pacific Islands, Australia, and New Zealand, to discuss this important initiative for the Oceanic region. There was overwhelming enthusiasm and agreement that FONS can make a difference for the region. Workshop participants were able to formulate a purpose (see word cloud), identify success indicators, define operating principles and guiding values, and identify the next steps for establishing a FONS. The aim is to launch FONS at the 2022 IUNS-ICN conference in Tokyo, Japan.  

Thank you to the core group driving this initiative, including Dr Welma Stonehouse, Elisiva Na’ati, Mafi Funaki-Tahifote, Prof Pam von Hurst, Dr Tracy McCaffrey, Prof Alison Coates, collectively representing the Australian Academy of Science National Committee for Nutrition (AAS NCN), Nutrition Society of Australia (NSA), Nutrition Society of New Zealand (NSNZ), The Pacific Community (SPC) and the Oceanic Nutrition Leadership Platform (ONLP). A great thank you to Yda Gray, PiqueGlobal, who facilitated the workshop. Welcome to the new members who have recently joined the core group including Dr Sarah Burkhart, Dr Mary-Ann Carter, Solene Bertrand, and Soana Muimuiheata.

St. John’s Research Institute produced a lower cost model of a total body potassium counter to accurately measure body cell mass of individuals with uncertain hydration status such as pregnant women, children in early stages of life and people with acute malnutrition or with cancer. (Photo: SJRI) St. John’s Research Institute produced a lower cost model of a total body potassium counter to accurately measure body cell mass of individuals with uncertain hydration status such as pregnant women, children in early stages of life and people with acute malnutrition or with cancer. (Photo: SJRI)

IAEA NAHRES Newsletter Jan 2022

Articles include:

  • The continued cooperation with IAEA Collaborating Centre St. John’s Research Institute to better understand complex nutritional problems – what’s next? 
  • And a new IAEA infographic on the use of nuclear techniques in cancer prevention and care

IAEA Infographic on the use of nuclear techniques in cancer prevention and care
Read here

Specific info-sessions on Erasmus+ Capacity-building in Higher Education – 2022 Call for proposals

The European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) is organising three specific Info-sessions on Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) – 2022 Call for proposals.

These three Info-sessions are targeting the following stakeholders and/or Regions:

  1. CBHE Infoday for newcomers – Strand 1 (14/12/2021)

https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu/news-events/events/online-info-session-erasmus-capacity-building-higher-education-cbhe-fostering-access-cooperation_en

  • CBHE Infoday with a Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (16/12/2021)

https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu/news-events/events/online-info-session-erasmus-capacity-building-higher-education-cbhe-focus-sub-saharan-africa_en

  • CBHE Infoday with a Focus on Asia and Pacific (17/12/2021):

https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu/news-events/events/online-info-session-erasmus-capacity-building-higher-education-cbhe-focus-asia-and-pacific_en

In the links provided you can find more information on each event and on how to participate. The presentations will be recorded and the PPTs will be published in the same website.

IUNS at Nutrition for Growth Summit

“We must work together to identify & develop evidence-based policies & to build capacity to create the nutrition leaders for tomorrow. Together, we can enable & lead new ways to address entrenched problems to meet the global nutrition goals,”

Dr Anna Lartey on behalf of IUNS, at Nutrition for Growth 2021

Immediate past president of IUNS, Dr Anna Lartey, delivered a statement to the Nutrition for Growth Summit 2021 livestreamed from Tokyo, Japan. The Summit took place over two days, December 7 and December 8, 2021.

Nutrition for Growth (N4G) is the global opportunity for leaders to invest in nutrition as part of a COVID-19 recovery and beyond, and to ensure that nutrition remains a priority on the global agenda.

Country governments, donors, philanthropies, international organizations, businesses, civil society organizations, academia and beyond came together to discuss accelerating progress to achieve the global nutrition targets and to end malnutrition in all its forms.

The Summit featured two-days of data-driven financial, policy, programmatic, or impact commitments from all stakeholders, aligned with the thematic pillars of this year’s N4G summit: universal health coverage, resilience, and healthy diets, and underpinned within the lenses of nutrition financing and accountability.

Following the summit, Government and private sector donors have pledged more than US$27 billion at the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit this week to address the global malnutrition and hunger crisis. Represented by five Heads of State and Government, 45 countries with high burdens of malnutrition and a dozen donors delivered renewed policy and financial commitments to end malnutrition. These commitments demonstrate country leadership and prioritization of nutrition at a crucial time, as fiscal resources are constrained, and malnutrition rates are on the rise due to the continuing global COVID-19 pandemic.

You can read more on the outcomes of the summit via the post summit press release here:

Consultation for the development of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition

FAO Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition • FSN Forum

The “Consultation for the development of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition” has already received interesting contributions. Below you can read short summaries of these comments.

This online consultation invites you to share your views on the Zero Draft of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition.

It is part of a consultative process that also includes six regional consultations of which the first one, the CFS Gender Regional Consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean, took place this week. Below you will find a note from the facilitators of this online consultation, in which they provide a short overview of this regional event.

Please visit the FSN Forum website to read the introduction to the online consultation and the discussion questions in English, Español, Français, Русский, 中文 or  العربية, and to post your contribution in any of these six languages.

There is also an ongoing “Call for sharing experiences and good practices in the use and application of the CFS-RAI”, which is also facilitated by the CFS Secretariat.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact FSN at fsn-moderator@fao.org.

The FSN Forum Team look forward to receiving your precious feedback!

TO PARTICIPATE – send your contribution to FSN-moderator@fao.org or post it on www.fao.org/fsnforum

NOTE FROM THE FACILITATORS

The CFS Gender Regional Consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean took place on 21-22 September. The Consultation was very well attended with close to 100 participants from countries of the region participating in the event at any time and more following the webcast. All constituent groups contributed to the plenary discussions: representatives from governments, UN System, civil society, research institutions, private sector and others, sharing precious information on challenges and potential solutions. This was the first one of a series of six consultations planned to take place in September-November 2021.

The objective of the CFS regional consultations is to align the future CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition with national and regional priorities and needs. The main background document for the consultation, the Zero Draft of the Guidelines, was presented by Ms Tanja Grén (Finland) and Mr Tomas Duncan (Panama), Co-Chairs appointed by the CFS Bureau to facilitate the policy convergence process.

H.E. Ms Beatriz Argimon, Vice President of Uruguay, delivered the first keynote. She was congratulated for tirelessly championing the rights of rural women, including the rights to food and nutrition. Mr Berdegué, Regional Representative of FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean delivered a keynote on behalf of FAO, IFAD and WFP, sharing impressive statistics on the dramatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty and food security and nutrition. Finally, Ms Maria Noel Vaeza, UN Women’s Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean, stressed the fact that empowering women and girls was an effective way of improving nutrition, not only of women but of all members of their family. The three keynote speakers underlined the importance of the CFS future Guidelines and their support to their implementation once agreed by CFS in October 2022.

CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED

Srikanthi Bodapati

Nutrition and Public Health Specialist, India

Srikanthi comments on section 3.8 of the Zero Draft, “Women and men’s ability to make strategic choices for healthy diets and good nutrition”, and suggests including some additional aspects in the section’s problem statement. She discusses, for instance, how broader social factors can deprive women and young girls of education and nutrition, referring to forced early marriage and influence of family members on women’s and girls’ reproductive health choices.

Read the full contribution

Asikaralu Okafor

Maklumy Technology Services Limited, Nigeria

Asikaralu provides feedback on section 3.2 of the Zero Draft: “Elimination of violence and discrimination against women for improved food security and nutrition”. She refers to the situation in Nigeria, where women experience psychological and economic violence due to patriarchy. Women often do not have full ownership of farmland or are not allowed to use the profits they earn for personal needs. With regard to section 3.3, “Access to education, capacity building, training, knowledge and information services”, Asikaralu argues that child/early marriage is an age-long tradition that falls outside the sphere of influence of civilization and religion.

Read the full contribution

Atika Marouf

Seed Development Project funded by IFAD, Sudan

Atika points to the need for nutrition awareness raising programs and training on income generation activities for women.

Read the full contribution

Santosh Kumar Mishra

Population Education Resource Centre, Department of Lifelong Learning and Extension (Previously known as: Department of Continuing and Adult Education and Extension Work), S. N. D. T. Women’s University, Mumbai (Retired: on June 30, 2020), India

Santosh proposes to include the aspect of “family life education” (FLE) in Part 2 of the Zero Draft. He discusses what FLE should look like in practice, pointing out that it should be provided to both boys and girls, and that it should cover the following broad subject areas: 1) negotiation skills; 2) communication skills, and 3) values for healthy and responsible living. The aim of FLE would be to equip boys and girls with the skills needed for taking right and rational decisions in all relevant matters throughout life. Based on his professional experience, Santosh argues that the traditional tools to support women’s empowerment that are suggested by policy makers often do not have the desired outcome, and that FLE could promote the needed changes.                   

Read the full contribution

Violet Chanza Black

World Food Programme, Cameroon

According to Violet, the Guidelines should feature a more comprehensive discussion on including women and girls in the development of climate change adaptation skills, with a particular focus on digital technologies. In this context, one should take into account existing gender gaps in terms of skills, and access to information and training.

Read the full contribution