Commitments

What is meant by a commitment within the framework of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition?

Within the framework of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition, commitments are referred to as commitments for action on nutrition, corresponding to policy development processes, delivery mechanisms or financial investments. These commitments can be financial or non-financial and should reflect national priorities and respond to the country’s nutrition situation and current food and health systems.

They may:

• Be set to achieve one or more nutrition targets and intermediate milestones, consistent with the timeframe for the implementation of the six World Health Assembly (WHA) global nutrition targets to be achieved by 2025 and the WHA diet-related global NCD targets;
• Be linked to one or more of the Framework for Action recommendations made at the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2); or
• Mobilize domestic and international financial resources to implement actions related to the selected ICN2 Framework for Action recommendations or the broader action areas of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition.

What is a SMART commitment?

Commitments that are SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound - help all stakeholders understand what action is intended and improve tracking.

SMART commitments are commitments for action on nutrition, corresponding to policy development processes, delivery mechanisms or financial investments. These commitments can be financial or non-financial and should reflect national priorities and respond to any given country's nutrition situation, and current food and health systems.

Who can register a commitment?

Commitments form Member States are to be formalized through a communication between the Head of State or Minister and the Director-Generals of either FAO or WHO, or both. Commitments can be submitted continuously throughout the course of the Nutrition Decade and those made by Member States will be included in a publicly accessible repository managed by the joint FAO/WHO Secretariat.

Commitments can be made by national authorities at different levels of government, including municipalities, but should always be transmitted through government's central authorities.

How will the registered commitments be monitored?

Governments submitting commitments are expected to provide information annually to allow tracking of progress on their implementation and to document achievements and successes.

Governments should establish, as appropriate, national nutrition targets with milestones consistent with the timeframe for implementation of the Nutrition Decade, and should strengthen monitoring mechanisms as needed to track progress in achieving national targets.