The Scaling Up Nutrition Movement Attracting Some Countries

Scaling Up Nutrition, also known as SUN, is a movement that provides a space for countries to approach nutrition scaled to their individual needs. More than thirty countries have signed up. David Nabarro, coordinator of the movement and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Food Security and Nutrition, stated that the “movement sets out to ensure that countries are in the lead and that efforts of multiple stakeholders are aligned in response to people’s needs and requests from countries” according to a recent article from IRIN. 

Still, some countries like South Africa do not agree that SUN promotes a needs-based approach to nutrition that can be individualized. A health official in South African stated that a “commodity-driven campaign contradicts the current emphasis in many developing countries on home-based nutrition interventions, be it developing chickpea-based ready-to use-therapeutic food or promoting vegetable gardens.” A UNICEF official stated that the reason other countries have signed up vary; from nutrition not being a priority to fragile governments.
 

However, Scaling Up Nutrition has many advocates internationally. Stephane Doyon, head of the nutrition team at Doctors Without Borders believes that SUN shows potential in being a “hub to interexchange and gather support for what they intend to do, and also to seek inspiration from South and Central American countries like Peru and Guatemala, which are implementing large nutrition programs with much success.” UNICEF's Werner Schultink applauds SUN as a measurement of a countries interest in nutrition-intervention. In a report the the United Nations Schultink stated, “I thought that was very telling of the kind of priority and attention nutrition was now being given in countries thanks to SUN.”