The West Africa Health Organization (WAHO) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) is holding the 17th ECOWAS Nutrition Forum, aimed at accelerating the achievement of regional nutrition indices.

The forum, with then theme: „Leveraging Sustainable Financing for Multi-Sectoral Approaches: Breaking Down Silos to Accelerate Universal Access to Safe, Affordable and Sustainable Diets,“ brings together key nutrition stakeholders biennially, to discuss nutrition policies and practices, progress in reducing malnutrition and diet-related diseases and innovative practices in the region.

WAHO, in a statement said the main objective of the meeting is to strengthen multi-sectoral collaboration to improve financing and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for nutrition.

According to the statement, „This forum will be an opportunity to examine innovative multisectoral collaboration practices that work best in terms of synergy of action and sustainable financing of nutrition interventions; discuss Public Private Partnership (PPP) approaches to improve access to diversified, micronutrient-rich foods in a sustainable manner; agree on sustainable mechanisms for UHC of nutrition interventions.

“The Forum is an example of WAHO’s multi-sectoral approaches – involving a broad base of stakeholders (the UN System, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral agencies, the ECOWAS Commission and Parliament, civil society, and all Member States).”