African Leaders for Nutrition meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

In the image, from left to right: Ginette Nzau Muteta, Manager Health Division, AfDB; Maimouna Diop Ly, Principal Health Analyst, Human Development Department, AfDB;  Shawn Baker, Director, Nutrition Team, BMGF; Neil Watkins, Interim Deputy Director, Agriculture & Nutrition Advocacy and Communications, BMGF; Akinwumi Adesina, President, AfDB and GloPan Member; Victor Ajieroh, Senior Programme Officer, Nutrition, BMGF and Global Panel Representative; Sandy Thomas, Director, GloPan; Jon Parke, Consultant, GloPan; Sunita Pitamber, Head of the Fragile States Unit, AfDB; and Valerie Dabady, Manager, Partnership and Mobilization Resources Unit, AfDB.

On 15 March 2016, Global Panel member Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), hosted Global Panel Director Sandy Thomas and colleagues from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to discuss next steps for the African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) initiative.

President Adesina announced his intention to present the ALN to finance ministers at the Annual AfDB meeting in Lusaka, Zambia in May 2016. At the meeting, the ALN will set out a call to action for governments and Africa’s key public and private sector decision-makers to find new and effective ways to work together to reduce malnutrition and, thereby, to aid Africa’s transformation to inclusive and sustainable development.

The ALN seeks to create an energised multi-sectoral community of leaders from government, the private sector, and other areas. Together, the ALN will empower and support innovative, sustainable action over the next five to ten years to address malnutrition and place Africa on a globally competitive economic footing. This call to action will be framed by a robust case for the multiple economic benefits realised through implementing proven nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive policies.

Read more about the ALN initiative, and the criticality for African leaders to address key nutrition issues.