Contribute to achieving the WHA global nutrition targets and SDGs through the mantra of more money for nutrition and more nutrition for the money at global and country levels, including: Supporting at least 15 countries with tools and technical support to improve the efficiency of nutrition spending and strengthen results-focused nutrition financing and accountability over the next five years: This includes developing evidence-based costed national plans and/or deploying tools such as Optima Nutrition and Nutrition Public Expenditure Reviews to enhance allocative efficiency and public financial management and resource tracking Supporting 10-15 countries to develop pro-nutrition fiscal policies over the next five years: This includes taxation on unhealthy foods, marketing regulations, and sodium-reduction policies to prevent the growing burden of non-communicable diseases and obesity, and their associated costs for Universal Health Coverage Supporting galvanizing private investment opportunities and innovative financing approaches to nutrition improvements over the next five years: This includes, but not limited to, continued engagement with potential investors of the World Bank Sustainable Development Bonds highlighting the value of investing in nutrition and human capital as well as other private financing opportunities

World Bank Group commitment

1. Food and nutrition security are key for human capital development and are an integral part of the World Bank’s Covid-19 response. Of the 48 countries with the lowest Human Capital Index (HCI), 41 have high child-stunting rates. Many of these same countries also have high rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases. Ironically, the double burden of undernutrition and obesity often coexists in the same countries – and often in the same families – and takes its toll on countries’ productivity. Before the pandemic there were about 150 million stunted children across the world who have lost the opportunity to achieve their full economic potential, and there were over 2 billion overweight/obese individuals – more than 70% of whom live in low- and middle-income countries. After the pandemic we expect these numbers to rise, adding further urgency for us to respond to protect human capital and future economic productivity.

2. The IDA is one of the main sources of development finance for addressing malnutrition and food insecurity. For instance, the IDA Crisis Response Window’s Early Response Financing – which was introduced in July 2020 – has allocated US$450 million to date to support early responses to rising food insecurity.

3. One week from now, the government of Japan will host the fourth and final meeting of the 20th replenishment of the IDA (IDA20). We expect to reach agreement on a very ambitious financing and policy package to enable IDA to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and build back better. Human capital and food and nutrition security will remain key priorities in IDA20. As part of the policy package, and anchored in concrete policy commitments, IDA will work with partners to help countries fight malnutrition.

4. The World Bank’s annual commitments for nutrition have grown significantly from $10 million in FY12 to $1.2 billion in FY21, and we have a total of over $6.0 billion in the portfolio under implementation today. We are grateful to Japan for its Japan Trust Fund for Scaling Up Nutrition Investments, which has played an important role in this scale-up by providing technical assistance and capacity-building support. During our FYs 21 and 22 the World Bank (IDA and IBRD) is planning to commit up to $2.5 billion of financing to nutrition-contributing activities. Our commitment to this agenda is strong, and we expect to be able to maintain, or possibly even grow, this level of financing for nutrition during the FY23–FY25 period. As with all our financing, these funds will be deployed in consultation with national authorities through country allocations and other sources, such as the Crisis Response Window’s Early Response Financing, to ensure the support responds to country contexts and development priorities.

5. These amounts will be complemented by significant resources that already have been allocated to address food insecurity.

6. We are grateful for additional trust fund resources provided by generous donors such as Japan, which will help complement our operational work with technical assistance and capacity-building, thereby enhancing the impact of IDA and IBRD investments. In addition, we are pleased to see that private-sector groups such as Japanese life insurance companies and other investors (Nippon Life and Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Companies and Nomura Securities) are now purchasing IBRD nutrition bonds, thereby bringing attention to the importance of nutrition for the private sector.

7. The World Bank Group (including the International Finance Corporation) remains strongly committed to including nutrition within universal health coverage and the pandemic response, and we are grateful to Japan for bringing this key issue to the world’s attention.