London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

With this public high-level event, LSHTM and a partnership of donors including the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Dubai Cares, will launch the Global Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition.

In January 2020, nearly one in every two primary school children worldwide received a meal every day at school. Once the COVID-19 pandemic began, by April 2020 some 370 million children were missing out on what had often been their only dependable meal of the day.

There is a growing Global Coalition to help countries re-establish, increase, and improve school health and nutrition programmes, the health and well-being of all children, provide a safety net for a generation, create human capital, support national growth, and promote economic development. Within and informing the Coalition is the Global Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition – a 10-year collaboration of academic, research and development partners that will address and share strategic research for evidence-based decision-making on school health and nutrition.

After keynotes and discussions from high-level speakers, the policy panel will highlight the Coalition’s action goals and how they will be supported by the Consortium’s research goals.

Please note this event will be broadcast live with simultaneous English, French, and Spanish interpretations.

Programme

13.00 -  Keynote

Professor Baron Peter Piot, Director, LSHTM

13.05 - Policy Panel: The Coalition for action and the Research Consortium

Chair

Professor Baron Peter Piot, Director, LSHTM

Speakers

• H.E. Ville Skinnari, Minister for Development Cooperation, Finland
• H.E. Silvana Vargas Winstanley, Minister for Development and Social Inclusion of Peru
• H.E. Céline Jurgensen, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in Rome
• H.E. Dr Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Cares
• Carmen Burbano, Director of School Feeding, UN World Food Programme

13.20 - Presentation of the Global Research Consortium

Speakers

• Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy on Global Education, former Prime Minister of UK
• Professor Donald Bundy, LSHTM, Director of the Global Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition
• Dr Bibi Giyose, Senior Advisor for Food and Nutrition Security, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD)

13.30 - Policy Presentation

Speaker

David Nabarro, Senior Advisor, Food Systems Summit Dialogues and Special Envoy of World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General for COVID19.

13.40 - Scientific and Technical Panel: The need for evidence-based programming to accelerate recovery and enhance development gains

Chair

Professor Anne Mills, LSHTM, Deputy Director & Provost

Speakers

• Dr Roberta Gatti, Chief Economist, World Bank: ‘The importance of data quality in decision making’
• Dr Jyotsna Puri, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD): ‘The importance of a multi-sectoral approach to research’
• Professor Michael Kremer, Professor in Economics and Public Policy at the University of Chicago, 2020 Nobel Laureate in Economic: Keynote address: ‘The role of school-based programmes’