2023 Elections- CS-SUNN urge media to task political leaders on prioritizing nutrition

Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition (CS-SUNN) Senior Meal Officer, Mrs  Jayne Arinze Egemonye urged media practitioners to bring issues around fulfilment of commitments for nutrition to the limelight as the election approaches in 2023.

She advised the political aspirants to capture the issue of nutrition security, which is critical to the attainment of sustainable development goals.

“Some of the manifestoes captured a bit of food security, and there is a missing link on the issue of nutrition. There needs to be a connection between agriculture and how to reduce malnutrition in the country.

” We want all the different parties to critically renew their manifesto in terms of nutrition both at the state and national level to attain the sustainable development goals”, she stated.

The Senior Technical Advisor of FHI 360, Mrs Toyin Adewale Gabriel,  urged media practitioners to sensitize the political aspirants to prioritise nutrition during the campaign and when elected into power.

“The media has a role to play by educating the political leaders and their aides on the importance of nutrition as a worthwhile investment. They need to carry out extensive research and package them into a user-friendly format, such as briefs, infographics and PowerPoint materials to highlight the importance of nutrition in the country”, she added.

The Head of Nutrition Federal Ministry of Health Dr Binyerem Ukaire said ” the media should not relent in sensitizing the public about the importance of nutrition. We want to get the buy-in of the media to improve nutrition advocacy in the country. We want them to highlight Nigeria’s nutrition commitment by moving from pledges to action”.