More than 1 billion women and adolescent girls worldwide suffer from undernutrition, including the lifelong effects of the consequences of wasting and stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, and anemia. Undernourished mothers give birth to small and vulnerable newborns, with immediate and long-term ramifications for individual and societal development and growth. Today, approximately 20 million infants are born with low birthweight globally, and 73% of all low birthweight infants reside in South Asia and Central, East, West and Southern Africa.
The Gender Nutrition Gap encompasses a global advocacy campaign and the Closing the Gender Nutrition Gap: An Action Agenda for girls and women to prioritize and accelerate policy and finance commitments to women’s and girls’ nutrition. The Action Agenda is a call to decision-makers at global, regional and national levels — funders, policymakers, civil society organizations, international nongovernmental organizations and the private sector — to unite to improve women’s and girls’ nutrition by following a set of concrete actions.
The Action Agenda aims to unlock bold and novel sources of funding, spur innovation, inspire new partnerships, and encourage investment in quality data systems. It also seeks to increase policy coherence to ensure that women and girls around the world have access to healthy diets and are supported by quality health and social care systems. It aims to advance gender equality and create a strong multisystem environment that enables women and girls to live full and healthy lives.
FHI 360 led the co-creation and dissemination of the Action Agenda through an inclusive, participatory process with over 50 partners, including United Nations organizations, international and national nonprofits, philanthropies, national professional medical societies, and research institutes. FHI 360’s 1,000 Days initiative manages the project.
You can find more information on the Action Agenda here. To join the movement, contact GenderNutritionGap@fhi360.org.