GAIN Africa Regional Forum
Twenty five percent of the African population is undernourished - one African in four suffers from malnutrition. In the SADC region it is closer to 40 percent and in the Great Lakes region the rate is closer to 70 percent (FAO). An alarming four in ten children under five years of age in Africa are stunted. This means that around 57 million children are short for their age.
Vingt cinq pour cent de la population en Afrique est sous-alimentée, un Africain sur quatre souffre de malnutrition. Dans la région de la Communauté de développement de l’Afrique australe (SADC) ce taux est proche de quarante pour cent et dans celle des Grands lacs, il est proche de soixante dix pour cent (Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture). 57 million d'enfants de moins de cinq ans présentent également un retard de croissance. Les causes de cette malnutrition sont multiples mais elles sont toujours liés à la pauvreté, les conflits et les maladies infectieuses.
Malnutrition has different causes but it is closely linked to poverty, armed conflict and infectious diseases. The GAIN Africa Regional Forum brought partners together to share their experiences in combating malnutrition at scale in Africa. Participants had the opportunity to identify solutions that offered the most promise for sustained impact.
On Day One, keynote addresses and panels highlighted ways to improve links between nutrition policies and action, examples of proven public-private partnerships to fight malnutrition, and tangible steps to strengthen national capacity to design and implement successful nutrition programs. Networking sessions will enable participants to share best practices and knowledge that will support and strengthen their nutrition programs.
Day Two sharpened the focus of the meeting on program design and implementation through focused workshops sharing knowledge and experiences gained across different countries and projects in the region. Experienced chairs will capture key lessons learned for discussion at the final plenary.
The GAIN Africa Regional Forum enabled high level senior leaders to come together to advocate for more concerted attention to nutrition in the region and for practitioners to build networks which will support their work in the future.
