On November 30th, 2021 the Micronutrient Forum, alongside the WHO, UNICEF, BMGF, and CIFF, hosted Powering Women – Promising Futures, an official side-event at the Nutrition for Growth Summit.
As reflected in the short highlight video, women, maternal, and girls’ nutrition is not simply a matter of poverty- it is also born from inequity. Millions of women eat last and least due to discriminatory norms and for most, this does not change during pregnancy – the most critical time for their unborn baby’s development. Today, one in three women are anemic, and the COVID-19 pandemic will only exacerbate these numbers. Decades of limited progress demands a new and energized women’s nutrition movement where the complementarity of women’s health and equity status are leveraged to drive sustainable improvements with more coordinated investments and actions.
Moderated by SUN coordinator Gerda Verburg, the Powering Women – Promising Futures session brought together leaders from national and bilateral donor governments, UN agencies, and NGO leaders to advocate for more equitable and nourished futures for women.
Sixteen leaders, including Henrietta Fore, the former Executive Director of UNICEF, Dr. Faisal Sultan, the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and Fadhilah Gubari, an inspiring youth advocate from Yemen, highlighted strategies that combine nutrition and equity actions to improve and empower the future of girls, mothers, and women in all stages of life.
Representing a capstone moment in the Year of Action, ten women nutrition commitments were announced by speakers at the event which became part of the official Tokyo Compact on Global Nutrition for Growth — a promising start to a women’s nutrition movement.
The Forum looks forward to working with its partners and the community to ensure that momentum generated from the Year of Action translates to a Decade of Action to #PowerWomen.
In honor of International Women’s Day, we are excited to announce that the Micronutrient Forum will be hosting a #PoweringWomen Twitter Chat on Tuesday, March 8. The one-hour chat begins at 8:30-9:30 ET/14:30-15:30 CET/19:00-20:00 IST and will be centered around the theme “good nutrition is foundational for women”.