Project Syndicate: The Right Diet for Gender Equality
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, chair of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and Lawrence Haddad, lead author of the upcoming 2016 Global Nutrition Report

“…We can no longer treat gender discrimination and malnutrition as separate issues. The two are inextricably linked; they reinforce each other in a pattern that touches women at every stage of their lives. Malnutrition — in all of its forms — is both a cause and an effect of the profound power imbalance between men and women. … To improve nutrition outcomes for girls and women, we need to scale up proven nutrition interventions and ensure that other development programs take nutrition into account. … Development policies and programs must also take gender imbalances into consideration. … On June 14, the 2016 Global Nutrition Report will launch globally. The report aims to assess progress, improve accountability for meeting global commitments, and recommend actions for government and key stakeholders to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. … The call for action to sever the link between nutrition and gender inequality must be loud enough to echo around the world. We must eliminate all factors that perpetuate gender inequality. And that starts with better nutrition for all…” (5/18).