The steering committee of the Coalition for Sustainable Nutrition Security in India recently assessed and adopted plans to reduce malnutrition among India’s women and girls.

Supported by the IntraHealth-led Vistaar project, the steering committee reviewed highlights of the expert task force paper, “Essential Interventions for Reducing Malnutrition in Girls and Women in India,” the final section of the Leadership Agenda for Action (a document with recommendations on the most effective, evidence-based ways to improve nutrition security in India). The committee then endorsed the following interventions:

• Improve the quantity and quality of food and nutrients for women and girls 
• Prevent and manage micronutrient deficiencies
• Improve sanitation and hygiene practices and access to safe drinking water
• Increase access to basic health services
• Make completion of secondary schooling universal for girls
• Improve gender equity.

The steering committee also discussed and shared ideas to implement these interventions. The ideas included:

• Enabling people at the village, state, and national levels to coordinate their efforts to improve nutrition more effectively
• Setting up demonstrations on how to implement essential interventions
• Incorporating more focus on nutrition security and nutrition programming into the Right to Food Act
• Improving the media’s understanding and coverage of malnutrition issues
• Increasing government officials’ awareness and understanding of nutrition, using avenues such as the online course, “Leadership Programme on Nutrition Security,” offered by the Indira Gandhi National Open University
• Building a nutrition resource center within the Government of India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development.

The meeting, attended by 25 committee members, included senior government officials, nongovernmental organizations, and development partners (including UNICEF, USAID, and the World Food Programme).  

The Coalition for Sustainable Nutrition Security in India is chaired by Professor M.S. Swaminathan, an internationally recognized leader in agricultural sciences and nutrition and a member of parliament. The USAID-funded Vistaar Project supports the Coalition through its Secretariat.  For more information please visit www.nutritioncoalition.in