Knowledge Sharing, Dissemination, and Global Advocacy

Presentations on nutrition issues in various high level forums will create awareness of the need for inclusion of nutrition in MCH programs. A special session entitled "Mainstreaming nutrition in MCH programs" was organized in the annual conference of the UN Sub-committee on Nutrition in Geneva in March 2006. The session was addressed by Robert Scherpbier (WHO), Ian-Darnton Hill (UNICEF), Petra Hoope-Bender (PMNCH), Purnima Menon and Edward Frongillo (Cornell University), Tahmeed Ahmed (ICDDR,B) and Meera Shekar (World Bank).

The importance of mainstreaming nutrition was highlighted by the holding of a pre-meeting workshop on integrating nutrition and by a session dedicated for MNI in the 34^th meeting of the SCN February 25- March 1^st of this year. The MNI session was chaired by Prof Edward Frongillo of University. It started with an overview of the Initiative by Dr Tahmeed Ahmed (ICDDR,B) including achievements of last year as well as projected activities for 2007 in Bangladesh, Viet Nam, Pakistan, Bolivia, Chile, Uganda and Ethiopia.  Dr Purnima Menon (Cornell) described the framework and the tools for the mainstreaming process. This was followed by presentations of two reviews commissioned by the MNI. Prof University Kathryn Dewey of University of California at Davis presented her analysis of efficacy and effectiveness of complementary feeding interventions. Dr Andrew Hall of the University presented the findings of the review on the impact of intestinal parasites on child growth and nutrition. The presentations were followed by a lively discussion on the overall objectives of the Initiative and its role in forging a partnership and advocacy on leveraging funds and resources for future country-level activities. of Westminster of South Carolina.

In addition, nutrition issues related to the mainstreaming process have been disseminated in the following workshops and seminars:

• Countdown to 2015, London
• 8^th Commonwealth Congress on Diarrhea and Malnutrition, Dhaka
• Asian Conference on Diarrheal Disease and Nutrition, Bangkok
• ICDDR,B-Nutrition Foundation of India joint symposium on nutrition of under-two children
• Workshop on LBW and Dietary Origin of Health and Disease (DOHAD), Delhi
• Asian Society for Pediatric Research Meeting, Tokyo
• IAEA Nobel Peace Prize Fund Schools in Nutrition “Focus on Interventions to combat undernutrition during early life” Regional training course in Asia and Pacific, Dhaka
• Scaling Up Zinc- The Way Forward, Dhaka