Canada

London 2013 Canada is a global leader on nutrition and is pleased to be part of a strong group of actors who are also now increasing their attention and commitments to this critical issue. In 2010, Canada announced the Muskoka Initiative, and made nutrition one of three key paths to improve the health of mothers and children. Canada has also signed the Global Nutrition for Growth Compact which outlines the commitments, action, and accountability for resources and results required from all stakeholders to address undernutrition.

Reported progress Canada is on track to meet its $3.5 billion commitment to maternal, new-born and child health (MNCH), which comes to an end in 2020. Nutrition remains a key development priority to improve the health of mothers and children as part of this commitment. Canada supports gender-sensitive nutrition programming that increases access to nutritious food, micronutrients and comprehensive nutrition services throughout the lifecycle. This entails a focus on women, adolescents and young children to address undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies first and foremost. In 2018-2019, Canada continued to work with partners, such as Nutrition International, UNICEF, and the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN) to meet its commitment. Canada is the founding and principal donor to NI, providing on average $50M a year over the past 5 years, totalling almost $691M since 2002. Canada's support to NI has helped to provide, on average, 167 million children under five years of age with two doses of vitamin A each year. Additionally, 438 million additional people have also received iodized salt in 2018 to prevent iodine deficiency, including more than 110 million women of reproductive age. Through Canada’s contribution to the SUN Movement Pooled Fund, Canada supported strengthened participation of national SUN Civil Society Alliances within Multi-Stakeholder Platforms for improved coordination and alignment of national response to scaling up nutrition. Launched in 2017, Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy committed to improve evidence-based decision making by investing in better data collection and evaluation. To meet this commitment Global Affairs Canada developed a suite of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track and monitor progress achieved in the six Action Areas of the Feminist International Assistance Policy, including specific targets on health and nutrition within the Human Dignity Action Area. Canada continues to measure progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.