Australian assistance to help overcome Pakistan on nutrition challenges: Australian HC

ISLAMABAD, March 29 (APP):Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Margaret Adamson Thursday said Australian aid of A$300,000 will help improve SUNAR’s ability to produce high-quality research on Pakistan’s nutrition challenges, especially for women and children.
She was speaking to the closing ceremony of workshop series held with the support of Australian government to build the capacity of SUNAR, Pak members and conduct high quality research in the field of Nutrition.
SUNAR, Pak is a Network of 52 academic and research institutions involved in nutrition teaching and research in Pakistan. Australian government has supported Nutrition International.
High Commissioner Margaret said efforts to end hunger and improve nutrition must be based firmly on good evidence to be effective. “Such projects are aimed to provide a strong evidence base for government policy”, she added.
Australian support to SUN Academia & Research Network Pakistan (SUNAR, Pak) was also lauded by senior government officials and development partners during Research Studies Dissemination event organized by Nutrition International in collaboration with Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Secretariat, Ministry of Planning Development and Reform.
Chief of Nutrition Planning Commission/ SUN Focal Person Aslam Shaheen thanked Nutrition International and Australian high commission for extending technical and financial support to SUNAR. He said this support should be continued to promote nutrition research in Pakistan.
Secretary of SUNAR, Pak Dr Naseer Muhammad Nizamani said Nutrition International has built capacity of 140 young researchers, scholars and faculty members on research methodologies and scientific writing skills through a series of workshops held in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
“These trainings have been cascaded by faculty members in their respective institutions. Under Australian Grant, SUNAR members have conducted 5 research studies on different themes of nutrition,” he said.
He said findings of these studies will be helpful in planning of and implementation of nutrition interventions at national and provincial level.
Dr Muhammad Azeem Khan, Member Food Security and Climate Change, Planning Commission said government of Pakistan is fully cognizant with the importance of nutrition, that’s why we have prioritized this in the Vision 2025 which focuses on food and nutrition security through innovative interventions.
He said the new Food Security Policy, Pakistan Multi-sectoral Nutrition Strategy and Pakistan Dietary Guidelines for better nutrition are ready for launches which are some of the major strides that will have long term implications on nutrition outcomes.
He assured that government of Pakistan’s support to SUN Movement particularly SUNAR Pak for sustaining high quality research and implementation practical recommendations of SUNAR, Pak studies.
Key findings of research studies on nutrition were disseminated among participants of the event. Meeting was attended by large number of academicians, researchers, government officials, civil society, UN representatives, donors and media persons.