RESULUTION 112
FORUM: Sustainable Development Commission 2
QUESTION OF: Measures to Maintain and Improve Dietary Diversity
SUBMITTED BY: South Africa
CO-SUBMITTERS: Maldives, Kiribati, Japan, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Lao PDR, The African Union, Libya, Honduras, Tuvalu, Hungary, Tunisia, Ecuador, Ghana, Mozambique, Bulgaria, Fiji, San Marino, Israel, The Russian Federation, Uruguay, Seychelles, Colombia, Jamaica, FAO
Noting with approval the collaborative efforts made at The World Health Organization’s briefing in Geneva, Switzerland Dec 6th, 2019 on addressing all forms of malnutrition, and the programs and policy
needed to be given attention, Emphasizing the importance of the second Sustainable Development Goal, Zero Hunger, as a necessary keystone initiative for furthering the progress of solving this issue,
Deeply concerned by public health concerns of micro and macro nutrition deficiencies amongst populations with largely monotonous, cereal-based (grain and carbohydrates) diets that lack diversity, leading to many health-related issues,
Understanding the importance and use of Genetically modified foods (GMO’s) in order to solve problems of food deserts to combat the effects of undernutrition and starvation,
- Requests that the World Health Organization (WHO) conduct a sample study of the measurement of common diets through the use of Food Variety Scores (FVS), Dietary Diversity Scores (DDS) and Dietary Serving Scores (DSS), so as to establish a basic understanding of relevant member states or populations that need to be of particular concern and to gather data that provides an understanding of the size of populations in need of improving each respective score and the progress needed to be made for a demographic of concern to achieve a sufficient score:
- further requests that demographics are taken into consideration so there is adequate representation for the varying needs and means of all cultural groups, ages, and financial backgrounds
- necessitates a preliminary establishment of the ideal diverse diet so that upon conducting the study, the deficiencies of various diets can be clearly identified;
- Calls upon the WFP (World Food Program) to provide LEDC (Less Economically Developed Countries) governments with technical advice and expertise related to their Zero Hunger program which they believe can be done through five steps, such as:
- investing in inclusive development through financial support and training
- providing member states with improved infrastructure reducing food waste through implementing composts and only making the amount of food needed to feed communities
- encouraging a sustainable variety of crops by working with farmers to ensure that they have access to the necessary tools and skills in order to educate them and their society on the importance of eating a wide range of foods
- ensuring that children have a nutritional balance since the moment they are born in order to prevent stunted growth and promote healthy development, through means such as:
i. Providing infant formula
ii. Providing a variety of vitamin supplements to new mothers;