Ottawa, Canada – Nutrition International welcomes Canada’s announcement of CDN $195M for global nutrition programs at today’s Nutrition for Growth Summit, including CDN $63M for programs targeting women, adolescent girls and children through Nutrition International. These investments reaffirm Canada’s longstanding commitment to scaling up proven nutrition interventions, and breaking down silos between nutrition and other sectors to strengthen program delivery and impact. They will also provide critical support for COVID-19 response and adaptation, equipping Nutrition International to help governments continue to deliver services in new and adapted ways, as well as increase their reach and resilience.

“Good nutrition lays the foundation for gains in gender equality, immunity, education and employment,” said Minister for International Development Harjit Sajjan. “Today’s announcement shows Canada’s commitment to remain a leader in this space. Through our ongoing partnership with Nutrition International we will continue deliver real impact for those who need it most: women, adolescents and children.”

These new investments will contribute to Nutrition International’s commitment to transform the lives of one billion women, adolescent girls and children by 2030, and to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the World Health Assembly targets by 2025. While additional leadership and investment will be needed from Canada and other nutrition investors to put the world back on track to reach these targets (5 out of 6 targets are off track), today’s announcement represents a critical and focused down payment on this important agenda.

“Canada is a global nutrition champion, and this commitment is not only a response to the immediate needs of the global malnutrition crisis but also an investment in rebuilding resilience and protecting future generations,” said Nutrition International President and CEO Joel Spicer. “If we are truly serious about the principle that ‘all lives have equal value’ then one of the best ways we can prove it is by making nutrition a top global, regional, and national priority for the long term. Our hopes for equality, equity, dignity and good health for all depend on it.”

About the Integrated Nutrition and Gender Project in Senegal (PINGS)

The Integrated Nutrition and Gender Project in Senegal (PINGS) will reach over two million women and girls in Senegal with integrated nutrition, sexual and reproductive health interventions, and gender equality programming. These programs will help to open new conversations around women and girls’ health and rights, break down gender-related barriers to services, and support the Government of Senegal to test and scale approaches to integrated program delivery that provide services to women and girls where they are, with dignity and quality.

About the Building Rights for Improved Girls’ Health in Tanzania

The Building Rights for Improved Girls’ Health in Tanzania (BRIGHT) project will reach 470,000 adolescent boys and girls with an integrated adolescent sexual and reproductive health and nutrition initiative designed to build agency and empower adolescents in Tabora, Tanzania, to exercise their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and nutrition rights. It will support and deliver an integrated package of SRH and nutrition services, including family planning/contraception, gender-based violence prevention and response services, adolescent-friendly antenatal and postnatal care including nutrition support and counselling, and the promotion of life skills.

About the COVID Emergency Response Grant

The COVID Emergency Response grant will cover seven countries (Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Senegal, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Bangladesh), will reach 5.5M children and 228,000 pregnant women, provide training and other support for 20,000 community health workers, and as help to strengthen COVID-19 mitigation and adaptation efforts. It will aid efforts to put services and supports closer to people living in situations of vulnerability through community outreach and pre-positioning strategies, while also piloting new models of addressing key issues, such as childhood anaemia. Working together with Canadian partners like the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, this program will also develop new and more sensitive methods of collecting and using data for decision-making, paving the way for more responsive and less costly data management and tools moving forward.

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