Conferences: Ethiopia 2014
The 2014 Micronutrient Forum meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, marked the revival and revitalization of the MN Forum and brought together 1,000 participants from 65 countries, provided with a wealth of information about the science and delivery of micronutrients by 244 speakers in 80 sessions.
With the theme of “Bridging Discovery and Delivery”, the conference aimed to bring together academics, practitioners, policy-makers, program developers and evaluators, and others with a common interest in micronutrients. The dual objective was to provide updates to those who rely on the evidence base to guide their work, and to provide insights to the academic community and those involved in research on the critical gap areas relevant for policy making and practice.
Looking beyond the traditional nutrition focus, the conference placed particular emphasis on creating linkages across sectors relevant to ensuring adequate supply, access, and utilization of micronutrient-rich foods, such as agriculture, social protection and food security, while ensuring a continued focus on nutrition- specific interventions such as fortification and supplementation, through the health and other sectors.
Ethiopia was chosen as the venue for the Micronutrient Forum’s 2014 Global Conference for many reasons, not least of which was to showcase the country’s exemplary commitment to nutrition through multi- and inter-sectoral collaborations.
The conference program was organized around four themes:
- Epidemiology of micronutrients
- Biology of micronutrients and intervention efficacy and effectiveness
- Scaling up micronutrient interventions
- The enabling environment
The case of one key micronutrient, iron, was woven through the four programmatic themes with the objective of highlighting particular challenges and opportunities related specifically to iron, but relevant more broadly for the entire field of micronutrients.
The individuals we assess and attempt to influence through the many nutrition interventions live in intricate biological, social, and cultural systems and interact with complex health and food systems. The Integration to Implementation for
iron sessions took the conference participants through iron and its risks and benefits within biological systems, across the four themes discussed above, ending with policy and programmatic implications, all with a focus on understanding the nature and implications of this complexity.
In the sidebar you will find links to the conference proceeding, recounting the key findings that were presented in Ethiopia, as well as some of the lively and thought-provoking discussion that occurred there.
2014 Ethiopia Global Conference Sponsors
Undertaking a global conference of this magnitude and engaging participants from around the world was made possible by the generosity of the 2014 Micronutrient Forum Global Conference sponsors. Their support made possible a broader participation of people from across sectors working to promote adequate intake of micronutrients and the prevention and control of deficiencies. The Micronutrient Forum would like to gratefully acknowledge our conference sponsors.
The Micronutrient Forum would also like to acknowledge the support of the World Health Organization (WHO)
