Micronutrient Forum

The Micronutrient data innovation alliance (dina) works to improve the availability, quality, accessibility, and use of micronutrient-related data across the value chain to support national-level decision-makers to better design, implement, measure, and optimize programs and policies. In 2022, dina collaborated with national stakeholders and Micronutrient data groups to align on priorities and establish collaborations through virtual consultations and in person meetings. A lexicon of terms was developed with definitions used in Micronutrient programs, with particular focus on large-scale food fortification (lsff) to harmonize terminology in a living central repository for use by stakeholders within the field. - dina supported the mahidol/harvard group on biomarkers and laboratory capacity development and took on two working groups to address biomarker status and advocacy of iodine at the universal salt iodization meeting hosted by unicef and presented at subsequent meetings. - dina also developed its governance structure by forming a steering committee of 10 members from 7 different countries (5 continents) with diverse expertise and affiliations and expanded its membership to over 50 members worldwide. Dina highlighted the importance of Micronutrient data use in programs through various blogs, webinars, social media channels and newsletters. - finally, it initiated work on developing case studies on the successful use of mn data in nutrition programs, conducting a root cause analysis to examine specific national and regional mn data use cases to clarify underlying data issues to help establish priorities for dina and other stakeholders, and the transition of gfdx to dina by onboarding consultants.

The healthy mothers healthy babies consortium (hmhb) supports the efforts of its members, including governments, research institutions and implementation agencies, to improve maternal nutrition, specifically by accelerating the adoption, implementation, and scaling of multiple Micronutrient supplementation (mms) in low and middle-income countries (lmics). In 2022, hmhb drove alignment and collective actions with over a hundred members worldwide through advocacy, brokering knowledge and convening experts from diverse fields. - hmhb engaged and supported national actors, in line with its 2021 nutrition for growth commitment, by bringing together national leaders from nine asian countries in its first-ever in-person regional meeting in indonesia. An advocacy toolkit for the adoption of mms in countries was released to equip national actors. - hmhb facilitated in-depth dialogue among experts and stakeholders on mms policy adoption, implementation research, demand creation, and supply issues, virtually and in person, at various international conferences such as the international congress of nutrition (icn) and the agriculture, nutrition and health (anh) academy conference. - a series of short, powerful films called women's voices released by hmhb at various international events such as the devex at unga77 raised awareness on women's nutrition challenges and the transformative potential of mms . - hmhb also forged new, strategic partnerships and collaborations across maternal nutrition, health, and related fields, expanding its capacity, expertise, and reach. Specifically, it partnered with the emergency nutrition network (enn) to raise awareness on the use of mms in humanitarian contexts.

The standing together for nutrition consortium (st4n) employs innovative approaches to evidence generation, knowledge mobilization, advocacy, and collaborative partnerships to effectively bridge knowledge gaps and promote viable solutions to mitigate the harm caused by global crises. Building upon its work on the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on malnutrition, as conflicts, climate change and rising food prices exacerbated the strain on the nutrition, health, and resources of vulnerable communities in 2022, st4n played a critical role in prioritizing nutrition on the global policy agenda. - st4n analyzed and reported on the impact of the ukraine malnutrition, particularly for vulnerable communities still recovering from the pandemic in a nature article: "act now before ukraine war plunges millions into malnutrition amplified by a press release, "the war against ukraine and the global pandemic are creating a global health and nutrition crisis for millions of women and children". Collaborating with the scaling up nutrition movement (sun), st4n published a call to action and presented policy recommendations through a policy brief "act now before ukraine war plunges millions into malnutrition" at key global events like the group of 7 (g7) summit to advocate for actions to mitigate the impact of the war. - st4n worked with partners to model the impact of food inflation on child malnutrition during the escalation of the ukraine war. This research was published in a nature communications article titled, "economic shocks predict increases in child wasting prevalence in an ifpri discussion paper, "food inflation and child undernutrition in low- and middle-income countries". A policy brief titled, "global food crisis impact on child wasting in vulnerable communities", and an accompanying social media kit was produced in addition to various blogs and articles and disseminated to a wider audience. St4n also developed and disseminated advocacy materials highlighting the food crisis impact on nutrition for women and girls. - st4n advocated for gender-transformative policies to support women's empowerment and equity by developing an evidence-based analytic framework and mapping pathways to highlight the disproportionate impacts of pandemic on women and girls' nutrition. The findings were published in a peer-reviewed journal, social science and medicine: "covid-19, nutrition, and gender: an evidence-informed approach to gender-responsive policies and programs", translated into recommendations in a policy brief titled "covid-19 and malnutrition: a toxic combination for women", and disseminated through advocacy outreach through the gender and covid-19 project webinar: "food insecurity, hunger, gender, and covid-19 a social media kit. St4n findings were cited by various publications and media and presented at international conferences such as icn.

The Micronutrient Forum made significant progress in promoting dialogue and collective action to support micronutrient health in 2022 by making investments in the development of two platforms. - Through collaboration with stakeholders, the Forum engaged and managed a core group of 50 stakeholders along with an interim working group resulting in an overview of multi-sectoral actors in anaemia, a governance approach for the Alliance, four input papers for WHO's Comprehensive Framework on the Prevention and Management of Anaemia, and identified and engaged chairs for four Working Groups of the Aneamia Action Alliance (National Action, Programmatic Implementation, Research, and Investment). - Another platform in development is The Mighty Nutrients Coalition (MNC). Along with its network of partners, MNC successfully launched and disseminated the Lancet Global Health publication on new global MND estimates with an unprecedented worldwide audience of over 600 attendees from 90 countries. The impact of a common voice for the micronutrient technical community and collective action was demonstrated through its work with the Spina Bifida and Neurosurgeons' groups advocating for the WHA resolution on large scale food fortification for prevention of micronutrients and Spina Bifida. By developing its Advocacy and Communications capability, the Forum strengthened its ability and reach to raise awareness and communicate on micronutrient evidence and knowledge, and advocate for micronutrient-specific and sensitive investments and policies across nutrition, food security and broader development communities. In 2022, the Forum's website received approximately 7,500 new visitors per quarter, while the program website of ST4N and HMHB also reached approximately 1,300 and 1,500 new visitors per quarter respectively. These two programs have topic-specific resource pages on their respective Knowledge Hubs. Monthly newsletters were sent to over 9,000 subscribers and Twitter impression peaked in November 2022, with over 22,000 impressions. The Forum promoted micronutrient resilience themes through regular posts in Devex Dish newsletters. The Forum engaged with a leading strategic communications firm to support the strategic positioning of the Micronutrient Forum, which will include building a brand platform with the following components: a brand narrative, brand attributes, a corporate overview, a tag line, elevator pitch as well as some recommendations for the brand look and feel.