Global Nutrition Report: Status update and call for nominations to the Independent Expert Group

One of the commitments made at the Nutrition for Growth Summit last year was the publication of a Global Nutrition Report to maintain momentum in nutrition efforts and further build support and commitment. The draft outline of the proposed Global Report is here, with comments still open until March 21.

A Stakeholder Group has now been established to guide the process of producing such a Report, co-chaired by the Governments of the UK and Malawi. IDS has been helping the stakeholder group flesh out the outline of what such a report should aim to do and how it might be produced. 

The Stakeholder Group is now calling for nominations to the "Independent Expert Group". The Independent Expert Group (IEG) will be held accountable for the independence of the Report and will vouch for the quality of the data, will develop the narrative around the data, and be held accountable for the quality of the Report and the process that produces it. 

Nominations for the IEG should be submitted to Andrew Pollard (a-pollard@dfid.gov.uk) at DFID by 21 March 2014.

Requirements for the IEG

The Independent Expert Group will be held accountable for the independence and quality of the report. The Group will:

• Need to have a diverse range of skills and perspectives, small enough to function - preferably 12-14 members. Half the members from countries where undernutrition rates are high, half from other countries;
• Be supported by a small but dedicated Secretariat located in IFPRI (in the first instance for the 2014 report);
• Have two Co-Chairs, with as much balance between them as possible in terms of skills, perspectives and positions;
• Have members who need to be as independent as possible (signing a public disclosure of any conflict of interest) and expert in some attribute required to produce the report: 5 will lead on data quality working, 1-2 on data access, 6-7 on data analysis. All members will be responsible for data narrative and will delegate writing to 4-person team to include both co-chairs. All members of the IEG will be collectively accountable for the quality and independence of Report;
• Will have internal and External Validation: The Stakeholder Group, external technical reviewers (outside IEG) and stakeholders outside the SG will have the opportunity to review and comment on Report outline and drafts. Subject to concerns around media reporting, documents will be made as widely available as possible for comment – learning from the model established by the Committee on Food Security’s High Level Panel of Experts;
• Will work very collaboratively with the Stakeholder Group.

See this document for further details andTORs.