About The Nutrition Knowledge Hub

THE STATE OF NUTRITION IN THE WORLD


Nutrition is a critical part of health and development. Better nutrition is related to improved infant, child and maternal health, stronger immune systems, safer pregnancy and childbirth, lower risk of non-communicable diseases (such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease), and longevity.

Healthy children learn better. People with adequate nutrition are more productive and can create opportunities to gradually break the cycles of poverty and hunger.

Malnutrition, in every form, presents significant threats to human health. Today the world faces a double burden of malnutrition that includes both undernutrition and overweight, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

THE NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE HUB

Facing these challenges, the World Health Organization (WHO) teamed up with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to design, under the guidance of the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development (NHD), a Nutrition Knowledge Hub.

The Nutrition Knowledge Hub, with initial funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to build technical and functional capacity of public through e-learning courses and key nutrition-related training and knowledge materials.

The Nutrition Knowledge Hub also hosts and offers free and open courses to reach a larger public and raise-awareness on WHO’s important work and significant impact it has on nutrition.

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the Nutrition Knowledge Hub is to:

  • Effectively respond to WHO’s mandate to support and monitor the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition through nutrition training;
  • Offer short, self-paced e-learning courses and other materials to build capacity on nutrition and raise awareness of ongoing nutrition challenges;
  • Provide access to existing materials and tools to learn more about nutrition and on how to assess factors affecting adequate and balanced nutrition; including resources from other agencies.

THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF ACTION ON NUTRITION

Member States of the United Nations have declared the decade of 2016-2025 to be the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition. This decision is in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which outlines 17 global goals to improve world development in a sustainable manner. Many of these goals focus on improving the nutrition of the global population and the Decade of Action will allow Member States to prioritise nutrition and achieve these goals.

The Decade of Action has outlined six key areas for policy action that are as follows:

• creating sustainable, resilient food systems for healthy diets
• providing social protection and nutrition-related education for all
• aligning health systems to nutrition needs, and providing universal coverage of essential nutrition interventions
• ensuring that trade and investment policies improve nutrition
• building safe and supportive environments for nutrition at all ages
• strengthening and promoting nutrition governance and accountability
The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization have been called upon to aid the Member States in implementing and maintaining these commitments to nutrition.

THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION MANDATE ON NUTRITION

Nutrition has always been a priority of the World Health Organization. In Article 2 of its Constitution (1948), the improvement of nutrition is declared as one of the key functions of the organization.

The vision of the World Health Organization for the Decade of Action is to see a world free from all forms of malnutrition, where all people achieve health and well-being. This vision is in line with the mandate and constitution of the World Health Organisation, as well as with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The World Health Organization has been mandated, by United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/259, to lead the implementation of the Decade of Action on Nutrition in Member States; the mission of the World Health Organization is to work with Member States to ensure universal access to a healthy and sustainable diet. By working in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Global Nutrition Targets should be reached by 2025 and this will help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.