South, Southeast Asia and the Pacific

Indonesia joined SUN in December 2011. Since then, the prevalence of stunting decreased from 37.2 per cent in 2013 to 27.7 per cent in 2019. Although stunting is still relatively high, this reduction shows us that efforts are working and the strong motivation of SUN and its Networks in Indonesia to continue reducing this number even further. Indonesia has aimed to further reduce stunting among children under 5 years down to 14 per cent by 2024, with a strong commitment by the President.

Philippines joined SUN in March 2014. Since then, a Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) with outcome and output targets, coupled with a results framework, has been launched. Local Government Unit mobilisation strategies to scale up investments in nutrition, with a focus on dietary supplementation for pregnant women, and 6-23 -month-old children, have been created. Landmark legislation, such as Republic Acts No. 11037 on child nutrition and No. 11148 on scaling up national and local health and nutrition programmes, have been passed.

Pakistan joined SUN in January 2013. Since then, high-level nutrition coordination forums have been held under the auspices of the Prime Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. Nutrition has been included in the manifesto of main political parties and public sector financing for nutrition has been introduced.

Nepal joined SUN in May 2011. Since then, the country has developed and rolled out the Multi Sector Nutrition Plan for 2013-2017 (MSNP-I) and for 2018-2022 (MSNP-II). The Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act (2018) has been put in place and is enforced. Nepal has set up multi-stakeholder platforms across three tiers of the federal system and hosted the 2019 SUN Movement Global Gathering in Kathmandu, the largest to date.

In 1995, Nepal recorded a stunting rate of 68 per cent, the highest in the world. This amounted to more than 2 million stunted children. By 2016, the rate had been cut almost in half, to 36 per cent.