This development comes as the two-day high-level Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit Kicks off today March 27th 2025 in Paris, France.
The summit is expected to attract delegates from across the world and is designed to discuss ways of fighting malnutrition.
In a document signed by The Gambia government and other agencies, it revealed that many of stakeholders in The Gambia have made commitments on nutrition integration and have already set targets in their program portfolios that are nutrition specific or sensitive.
Stakeholders observed that the implementation of these policies have often not been easy with challenges including, among others, knowledge and evidence gaps; competing priorities; capacity constraints; complexities with tracking and reposting nutrition results and spending.
However, the document stated that the Global Compact on Nutrition Integration (the 'Compact') aims to accelerate action to end malnutrition in all its forms and achieve the Global Nutrition Targets by bringing together different stakeholders who commit to integrate nutrition objectives into policies, programs and investments across different sectors and who wish to work together on implementing their commitments.
The Compact responds to the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Paris 2025 vision and calls for commitments to scale up ambitions in the fight against malnutrition, more coordinated action across sectors and more continuity between summits.
The summit also seeks to help mobilise, sustain and support the implementation of nutrition integration commitments made at N4G 2025 and beyond, by raising the profile of 'nutrition integration' and by fostering peer learning, coordination and collaboration among commitment makers.
Meanwhile, the stakeholders that made up this Compact come together through a 'Nutrition Integration Coalition', which uses existing networks at national, regional and global levels, including the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, to take forward dialogue and engagement to implement the objectives of this Compact.
“We commit to integrate nutrition objectives and related activities into our work across different sectors. Our individual commitments are set out in the Global Nutrition Report's Nutrition Accountability Framework (NAF).”
It further stated; “We agree to come together as a coalition to share lessons and experiences with each other, coordinate and collaborate on our efforts to integrate nutrition and to ensure that they deliver meaningful nutrition results.
In addition, two key principles that underpin stakeholders’ integration efforts include a focus on actions that contribute towards achieving SDG 2 and the Global Nutrition Targets, with particular attention to the needs of vulnerable groups, in particular women, infants and children under five.
