In the margins of the N4G Summit, civil society organisations from across the world gathered for two days in the Civil Society Pavilion to confront pressing challenges in the nutrition landscape and shape a path forward. From these discussions, civil society united behind a set of key recommendations, with over a hundred organisations supporting this […]
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Nutrition Sensitive training in the Philippines – A Tale of Experience
A photoblog by Georgine Obwana – CSA Uganda In this ever-changing world, it is necessary to keep updating yourself, your knowledge, and your intellect, to keep up with the continuous growth and development taking place. This is exactly why the one week blended international course on Enhancing Capacities on Nutrition – Sensitive programing (NSP) has […]
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The Small Grants Programme Report is here!
Since 2018 SUN CSN has run a small grants programme, which invites interested & eligible CSAs and their members to apply for small grants, to implement and pilot small projects for research or innovation purposes over a 6-month period. Between 2018 – 2022 The SUN CSN Small Grants Programme has run four cycles of funding […]
ReadWe are all accountable
One year on from the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit, SUN CSN launches a social accountability campaign to hold stakeholders to account for promises made. The SUN Civil Society Network, along with the support of network members and global partners, want to see that the bold commitments we all made for nutrition become a reality! […]
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Get to know the Global Nutrition Cluster Technical Alliance
Who is the GNC Technical Alliance? The Global Nutrition Cluster Technical Alliance exists to provide systematic, predictable, timely, cost-effective and coordinated nutrition technical assistance to help nutrition practitioners meet the nutrition rights and needs of people affected by and at risk of emergencies. We provide expert guidance, learning and training, either remotely, through providing online […]
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The system is broken, now what? Five things we can do to make our advocacy demands a reality.
This September 2022, our members gathered again for a Virtual Assembly, the second of its kind. The objective was to agree upon the practical steps to deliver on a set of advocacy demands that emerged through a consultative process after our first virtual assembly. With the overarching goal to mitigate the impact of ongoing and […]
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Get Involved with the Latest CS Network Assembly!
Our first ever network-wide Virtual Assembly took place in May against the backdrop of ongoing global crises, which have seen food prices rise and access to adequate nutrition further diminished. Together, CSN members discussed how communities have been impacted and what we needed to change in the global food system to mitigate the impact of […]
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A new chapter for youth leadership on nutrition for the SUN CSN!
This year, the SUN CSN Secretariat is very excited to be launching the next phase of the successful Youth Leaders for Nutrition Program, and we’re inviting all CSN Members to join us in recruiting the next generation of young change-makers on nutrition. What does this new phase look like? Previously, the SUN CSN has supported […]
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Three things we learnt from the first Civil Society Network assembly
This week saw over 60 members of the SUN Movement’s Civil Society Network (CSN) come together from countries all around the globe in the first ever network-wide assembly to discuss experiences and solutions surrounding the current global food crisis and to create tangible advocacy demands as a network. The discussion was full of ideas and […]
ReadThe SUN CSN to host its first network-wide assembly on global crises
Summary The Civil Society Network Secretariat (CSNS) plans to organise a series of meetings with CSN Members to come together and share experiences and perspectives on how the global commodity price increases are impacting nutrition in different contexts. The event on May 25th will be offered as the first of an ongoing series of global […]
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Summary
The Civil Society Network Secretariat (CSNS) plans to organise a series of meetings with CSN Members to come together and share experiences and perspectives on how the global commodity price increases are impacting nutrition in different contexts.
The event on May 25th will be offered as the first of an ongoing series of global assemblies to engage CSN Members and maintain a direct line of communication between sub-national CSN Members, CSAs, Regional Coordinators, and the CSN Secretariat. The objective of this series is to root CSN Advocacy in SUN countries’ realities and arrive at a set of joint policy demands that would address the current crisis as well as the longer-term issues at stake to mitigate and absorb future shocks in the global food system.
Context
Recent shocks to the global economy, including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and extreme weather events related to climate change had already exposed the fragility of our global food system. Now the war in Ukraine is threatening to spur a “hurricane of hunger and a meltdown of the global food system” as per the words of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The Russian Federation and Ukraine are among the most important producers of agricultural commodities in the world and many Civil Society Alliances are based in countries which rely heavily on these two countries for staple foods.
In addition of exports being blocked, there is concern about this year’s harvest as the war rages on during the sowing season. The situation is exacerbated by food speculation – and the overdependence of developing countries on food imports and farming inputs exposes them to price volatility. Higher costs of food production will be carried through to consumers in the form of rising food prices in a context where nutrition security for all is already a major challenge.
Rising food prices are only one aspect of the cost-of-living crisis. With the price of everything going up, including fuel and electricity, household budgets are being squeezed from every angle. This is leaving families with less money to spend on nutritious food. Inevitably, the most vulnerable members of society on the lowest incomes are paying the heaviest price for this as they go hungry and are forced to sacrifice nutritious food to pay for every other basic need.
Our Response
The CSNS will convene CSN Members in an open forum to share the experiences, perspectives, and policy demands from civil society in SUN countries. This will be a semi-formal event with most contributions being made by CSN Members and the CSNS acting as facilitators.
Participants will be invited to share their views either through a timed verbal intervention, or by contributing to a shared open document capturing the broad range of perspectives.
The event will conclude with a summary of the issues raised and a discussion around the shared demands of global decision-makers to ensure that the right to nutrition is protected from ongoing (and future) price rises.
The CSNS will share follow-up communications to finalise agreement between CSN stakeholders on the joint advocacy demands, to suggest next steps for the national and local levels, and to signpost to the next global CSN assembly. The CSN secretariat will also ensure the joint advocacy demands are made public and circulated to important decision-makers at global level.
Speakers
Moderator: Irshad Danish, regional coordinator for the Asia regional group and chair of the SUN CSN Steering Group
Opening remarks: Webster Makombe, Youth Leader for Nutrition Zambia
