As 2015—the target date for the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—looms closer, the international community is reviewing how far we have come, and asking what new standards should be set in the development goals after 2015. Nutrition, policy, and advocacy experts recently gathered to discuss that very question.

IFPRI researchers Marie Ruel and Stuart Gillespie joined colleagues from the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bread for the World, the 1000 Days partnership, and the Canadian International Development Agency to lay out a rationale and next steps for including nutrition indicators and targets in the post-2015 development goals.

The participants summarized their discussion in a report, a series of reflections on lessons learned from the MDGs; nutrition challenges for the next 15 years; and potential frameworks, indicators, and targets for the post-2015 development goals.  The report is available to the public and will contribute to efforts by the United Nations to engage a range of partners in thematic consultations to shape the post-2015 development agenda.

At the meeting, Ruel, who leads IFPRI’s nutrition research, pointed out that undernutrition is just one area of concern—the new MDGs must address other issues, such as the problem of overweight children, as well.  

  “It is clear that stunting [height for age] should be the priority nutrition indicator for the next MDGs,” she explained. “However this needs to be complemented by other carefully selected indicators, such as household food consumption and individual nutrient intake.”

Scott Bleggi, senior international policy analyst for the Bread for the World Institute, blogged about the meeting, noting that nutrition plays a crucial role in reaching a range of development goals. “Improving nutrition is key to ending hunger in our lifetime,” he writes. 

To learn more about how IFPRI is contributing to global knowledge about nutrition and poverty, see the nutrition topic page.