West and Central Africa

Senegal has been an exemplar country in the West Africa region, reducing child stunting prevalence by 17.9 per cent from 1992 to 2017.

Gabon joined SUN in December 2016. Since then, having a SUN nutrition champion has help stress the importance of putting in place a multi-stakeholder platform, while the dynamic nature of SUN has led to increased knowledge of the importance of nutrition. Great support has been given by the UN system and Resident Coordinator and the food and agriculture sector is now viewed as nutrition-sensitive.

Côte d’Ivoire joined SUN in June 2013. Since then, nutrition has transitioned from the sectoral level to the Presidency of the Republic and a multi-stakeholder platform, the National Nutrition, Food and Early Childhood Development Council, has been set up. Côte d’Ivoire committed to financing their national nutrition plan up to 15% and hosted the first ever SUN Movement Global Gathering in a SUN member State, held in Abidjan in November 2017.

Cameroon joined SUN in February 2013. Since then, nutrition has been anchored at the strategic level, also through the creation of an inter-ministerial committee under the auspices of the Prime Minister. Actions to combat malnutrition have been scaled up at the decentralised levels – where a Local Governance for Nutrition initiative has been launched, involving more than 40 municipalities. To date, to date, around 20 communes have ensured financing of more than CFAF 82 million for one year.