The Global Nutrition Summit 2017: Milan took place in the Palazzo Reale Milano on Saturday November 4, 2017. The event brought together over 250 stakeholders including governments, cities, international agencies, foundations, civil society organizations and businesses, to accelerate the global response to malnutrition.
The day was marked by notable attendees Kofi Annan, former U.N. Secretary General and chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation, Mrs. Graça Machel, founder of the Graça Machel Trust and Her Excellency Madam Roman Tesfaye, First Lady of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
The day was started off with plenaries that brought together stakeholders and new actors on thematic discussions that focused on:
- Improving Nutrition Within Planetary Boundaries: Cities Taking the Lead
- Closing the Nutrition Gender Gap
- The Future We Want: Transforming our food systems for improved nutrition
The afternoon plenary began with the launch of the 2017 Global Nutrition Report (GNR). The proceedings for which Ms. Gerda Verburg, SUN Movement Coordinator, performed the role of Master of Ceremonies, included speeches by Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan, Chair of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and the Hon. Beatrice Lorenzin, Minister of Health, Italy.
The Big News!
The Summit galvanized US$3.6bn* including US$640 million in new commitments – see here a list of all the commitments.
The new and additional commitments unlocked the remaining US$111 million of matched funding committed by UK DFID at the London Nutrition for Growth Summit. In addition to new commitments, US and UK civil society extended and expanded on their 2013 commitments by committing US$1.17 billion to 2020. The World Bank announced $1.7 billion in funding to nutrition in the pipeline for IDA 18, from 2018-2020. Importantly, governments stepped up with significant policy commitments to fight malnutrition in all its forms.
The Summit attracted global media attention, with articles published in The Guardian, Le Monde, Forbes and Devex and an interview with Zouera Youssoufou, CEO and Managing Director of the Dangote Foundation, broadcast live on CNBC Africa. It also generated interest from national Italian media such as Il Giorno and La Repubblica.
#GlobalNutritionSummit was used to document the day. Added to the launch of the Global Nutrition Report, other landmark publications characterized the week of the summit, among them the and beyond has seen the publication of landmark pieces on similar and related pieces. Among these was An Agenda for Action To Close The Gap On Women’s And Girls’ Nutrition.
*An earlier press release posted on this website, indicates the amount of commitments as $3.4 billion. The amount $3.6 billion is the total after further clarification and tallying of commitments post the summit.