Maximising momentum Global Panel Representatives meeting, London 2016

This year has seen strong progress by the Global Panel across several fronts. It has raised its global profile and is increasingly seen as an influential body which is helping policy makers ‘raise their game’ in strengthening nutrition through agriculture and food systems. It has delivered five briefs and a working paper which have been well received and communicated. Two workshops and four high-level roundtables have also been successfully convened.

These activities have entailed significant in-country engagement by Panel members, their Representatives and the Secretariat. Panel members, particularly in Africa and Asia, have stepped up their activities to lend their influence to leverage impact for the Panel and its outputs. A major achievement was the soft launch of the African Leaders for Nutrition initiative in Lusaka, in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The attendees at the Global Panel Representatives’ meeting were: Baffour Agyeman-Duah, Victor Ajieroh, Lynn Brown, Elisio Contini, Anna Lartey and Manu Mathur; Technical Adviser Patrick Webb; Global Panel Director Sandy Thomas and members of the Secretariat, as well as colleagues from the UK Department of International Development, reflected on these achievements and also discussed ways to further accelerate progress over coming months. Discussions centred around:

• Greater focus over the next 6 months on communications and engagement activities.
• Identifying new opportunities for partnering with other agencies and initiatives.
• Increasing the impact of Panel Members and their outputs so they can further influence decision-makers to invest in nutrition-sensitive policies.
• Leveraging the forthcoming Foresight Report as a key evidence source to influence policy makers.
• Further support for other in-country engagement opportunities, e.g. the South Asian Policy Leadership Initiative for Nutrition & Growth (SAPLING).