DUSHANBE, November 25, 2014, Asia-Plus — Academician Mirgand Shabozov, who is Deputy Chairman of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament), participated in the Second International Conference on Nutrition that took place in Rome, Italy from November19-21.
“In a statement delivered at the conference Mirgand Shabozov reported on measures, taken by the Tajik Government to ensure food security, and the progress of implementation of programs and projects sponsored by international financial institutions and donor countries,” Muhammad ato Sultonov, a spokesman for the Majlisi Namoyandagon, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
The Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) was jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with a number of other UN agencies.
The conference participants reportedly included experts from food and agriculture, health and other sectors as well as United Nations agencies and other intergovernmental organizations, civil society, researchers, the private sector and consumer associations.
While the prevalence of hunger has fallen by 21 percent since 1990-92, over 800 million people in the world still go hungry. Undernutrition is linked to almost half of all child deaths under five years of age, some 2.8 million per year.
Over two billion people are affected by micronutrient deficiencies, or “hidden hunger”, due to inadequate vitamins or minerals. Meanwhile, the burden of obesity is growing rapidly, with around half a billion people now obese, and three times as many overweight. Some 42 million children under the age of five are already overweight. Moreover, different forms of malnutrition often overlap, with people living in the same communities-sometimes even in the same household-suffering from hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity. Overall, half the world”s population is affected by some sort of malnutrition. The aim of conference was is to create consensus on how to address major nutrition challenges—including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight—with a view to achieving the global nutrition targets by 2025 set by the World Health Assembly.
The conference resulted in adoption of the Rome Declaration on Nutrition, and a Framework for Action, which set out recommendations for policies and programs to address nutrition across multiple sectors.
The Rome Declaration on Nutrition enshrines the right of everyone to have access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food, and commits governments to preventing malnutrition in all its forms, including hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity.
The Framework for Action recognizes that governments have the primary role and responsibility for addressing nutrition issues and challenges, in dialogue with a wide range of stakeholders-including civil society, the private sector and affected communities.
