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The Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Network (SUN CSN) has officially launched its new five-year strategy, SUN CSN 4.0, setting out a bold, locally led roadmap for advancing nutrition outcomes worldwide from 2026 to 2030.  

The strategy aligns with the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement 4.0 framework while clearly defining SUN CSN’s unique mandate within the Movement: to organise, strengthen and amplify local civil society leadership to end malnutrition in all its forms. 

Developed through extensive consultation with civil society and other SUN Movement actors from community to global levels, SUN CSN 4.0 reflects hundreds of voices across the Network and beyond. 

“This is a strategy written by civil society. It is rooted in hundreds of voices from young people, national alliances and global level actors. The depth and diversity of consultation inform and legitimise the strategy. It reflects the realities, priorities and ambitions of the people who are driving nutrition action in country every day.”

Alexandra Newlands, Head of SUN CSN

Why SUN CSN 4.0 matters now 

Despite progress over the past decade, malnutrition remains stubbornly high. Undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight and obesity coexist in many SUN countries. Climate change is disrupting food systems. Health systems are overstretched. Civic space is narrowing in several contexts. Funding for civil society coordination is declining. 

Under SUN 3.0, SUN CSN expanded membership, strengthened youth engagement and influenced national policies. But many or our Alliances remain under-resourced, reliant on short-term funding and structurally fragile. 

SUN CSN 4.0 responds directly to these realities. 

It commits to moving from: 

• Participation to leadership: CSAs and youth not only contribute, but shape agendas and accountability. 

• Dependence to resilience: prioritising diversified, longer-term financing and direct support to regions and alliances. 

• Siloed to integrated action: embedding nutrition across health, climate, agriculture, food systems, gender equality and social protection. 

• Symbolic youth inclusion to systemic intergenerational governance. 

Our strategy’s spirit: a Network that is locally led, globally connected and inclusive by design. 

The strategy commits to deepening localisation by shifting resources and decision-making closer to where impact happens; strengthening regional structures and peer-to-peer learning; and ensuring that women, young people and local communities play intentional and meaningful roles in shaping priorities, governance and advocacy. 

The strategy also reinforces SUN CSN’s local-to-global approach to advocacy. People’s lived experiences, brought to the fore by CSAs and amplified by the Network as a whole, will inform national policies, regional agendas and global nutrition commitments – while global advocacy efforts remain grounded in local realities and accountability. 

SUN CSN’s vision is clear: a world free from malnutrition in all its forms, where united and strong local civil society plays a leading role in ensuring everyone’s right to safe, healthy and nutritious food. Its mission is to coordinate, strengthen and amplify local civil society leadership for equitable, accountable and cross-sector action that transforms systems and delivers improved nutrition outcomes globally. 

The four strategic objectives (SOs) are: 

SO1 – From short-term approaches to resilience: sustainably governed and resourced CSAs. 
SUN CSN will strengthen the institutional resilience, credibility and financial sustainability of civil society alliances through inclusive governance, effective partnerships and diversified funding for nutrition – ensuring civil society remains a stable, independent and trusted voice, including in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. 

SO2 – From representation to inclusive leadership: youth, gender and civic space for nutrition impact. 
The Network will promote inclusive leadership by amplifying youth- and women-led initiatives, safeguarding civic space, and ensuring community voices meaningfully contribute to decision-making. Through the expansion of the Youth Leaders for Nutrition programme, CSAs will convene community dialogues and champion intergenerational, gender-responsive action and accountability. 

SO3 – From rights to results: advocacy and accountability for nutrition integration. 
SUN CSN will advance civil society advocacy and accountability to integrate nutrition across health, food, climate, gender and social protection systems. The Network will strengthen advocacy capacity, uphold existing nutrition commitments, mobilise new ones, and connect national and regional efforts to global policy spaces. 

SO4 – From evidence to influence: amplifying effective civil society practices for nutrition. 
By strengthening the generation and use of civil society-led evidence, knowledge and storytelling, SUN CSN will help shape nutrition policies and narratives that reflect local realities. Peer learning, communications support and improved knowledge management will amplify members’ impact and visibility. 

From strategy to structural change 

“By strengthening civil society’s ability to generate and use citizen-led evidence, knowledge and stories, SUN CSN’s strategy is shifting nutrition narratives and policies from local realities to global decision-making spaces.” 

Irshad Danish, Chair, SUN CSN Steering Group

SUN CSN 4.0 recognises that ending malnutrition is not only about increasing food availability. It is about securing equitable access to healthy, sustainable diets; strengthening public systems; protecting rights; and ensuring that those most affected shape the solutions.  

The next five years are about shifting power, not just plans. SUN CSN 4.0 sets us on a path where local civil society leads with the resources, influence and accountability needed to transform food and nutrition systems.  

Implementation is already underway. Regional governance structures are being strengthened, youth-led community dialogues are expanding, advocacy priorities are aligning with Nutrition for Growth commitments, and new mechanisms are being put in place to improve accountability and sustainable financing. 

SUN CSN 4.0 is not a continuation of business as usual. It is a deliberate transition toward a more decentralised, resilient and accountable Network: one where civil society is not at the margins of nutrition governance, but at its centre. We invite our members, partners and allies across the SUN Movement and beyond to join us and help turn this ambition into measurable change over the next five years.

Interested in learning more about our strategy? Join our webinar on 24 February to hear from voices across and beyond our Network.

Read our strategy now