Foreign Affairs committee  Thanks for the question. I would say we are looking at some catastrophic outcomes. The possibility of losing 20 years of progress is very real in the nutrition world. We're looking at setbacks in equality even more. We're looking at the issue of governments moving a lot of their

Foreign Affairs committee  In some cases, I think it's fair that countries can step up and fund more of their own supplies, but it's more than just the product. Again, Canada providing the product guarantees the supply, but it's about the underlying health system and how we actually get those health system

Foreign Affairs committee  Briefly, I will say that things like fortification of staple foods and things like multiple micronutrient supplements, which are low cost, that are given before delivery can help to reduce anemia. It's important to note that a lot of vulnerability exists before birth and before g

Foreign Affairs committee  The issue is very serious, because it's not just a lack of coverage of vitamin A. As a quick recap for the committee, vitamin A has been shown to reduce child mortality by up to 24% if you can get two capsules into a child in the space of a year. It reduces deaths from pneumoni

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. I would like to thank the members of the committee for inviting me to speak today to discuss the vulnerabilities created and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. My name is Joel Spicer. I'm the president and CEO of Nutrition International, which is a global nutriti

Foreign Affairs committee  I would echo those points, and also say that there is a consistency in terms of where Canada has led. For example, the World Health Assembly targets on nutrition—obviously, I would talk about nutrition—are well established. Canada was a driver. All countries have signed up to t

Foreign Affairs committee  Our primary source of funding is the Government of Canada, but we have 14 donors, and we have had 14 donors over the past five years, including foundations like the Gates foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, CIFF, the Izumi Foundation, and the World Food Prog

Foreign Affairs committee  At the moment we have operations that are in 70 countries, but we have basically 12 country offices, a major hub in Senegal for Africa, and another hub in Delhi for Asia. There are really two things that we are doing to expand our influence. One is with a new president, it's no

Foreign Affairs committee  Just to close, Mark, one of the unique aspects of the Micronutrient Initiative is that it works on evidence generation, on the support for guidelines for countries to use when new evidence comes into play, and then on scale as well, not just on one piece. It's that connection.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, I'd like to echo something that my colleague Helen Scott mentioned earlier about the need to bring unusual partners together, academics and program people, as well. That would be one of them. Basically I would say there are three ways that Canada can have a greater impact i

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll have a kick at it and then pass it to corporate memory, because Mark has been with us for a very long time. It is beyond that. Those may be some of the things we're known for, but if you look at supplementation, then you also need to look at fortification of foods. Whereas

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much. It's an honour to be here today. I have three main points I'd like to make in this opening statement. The first is that nutrition is a key component of child protection. The second is that Canada is recognized around the world as a leader on nutrition. The