Today, October 13th, 2020, Timor-Leste joined the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN Movement), an initiative created in September 2010 by government entities, agencies and groups, founded on the principle that everyone has the right to adequate food and nutrition.
Timor-Leste joins another sixty-one member countries, which are working together to find truly transformative methods and solve the nutrition problem in their countries. Timor-Leste’s accession to the SUN Movement will allow the sharing of challenges related to malnutrition in Timor-Leste and learning from successful cases in improving nutrition, as well as joining a network of agencies, institutions and donors, contributing decisively to improve the health and well-being of the population in Timor-Leste.
Prime-Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, in his message published today, stated that “Timor-Leste has committed on improving the populations’ living conditions, especially in their well-being in the education, health and food areas and in access to basic services and infrastructure, contributing to the country’s economic development and stability”.
The head of the Government also explained that “our accession to this Global Movement for the Improvement of Nutrition” is justified by “our strategic commitment to fight poverty and child and family malnutrition”, adding that the Government intends to “mobilize human and financial resources in favour of the establishment of new Public and Private Partnerships, for the implementation of an Operational Roadmap for SUN Movement in Timor-Leste, supporting national nutrition plans and policies”.
Prime Minister also expressed his belief “that, with the SUN Movement in Timor-Leste support, we will have the possibility of giving children a better start in life, contributing to the reduction of the malnutrition and infant mortality rates, ensuring the development of a healthy and active society, with well-fed children, prosperous families and strong populations”.