Sir David Nabarro

David’s generosity and unwavering commitment to improve the lives of others will be sorely missed.

He leaves behind his beloved wife, Flo, his children, Tom, Ollie, Polly, Josie, Lucas and seven grandchildren.

The family is comforted by the support and compassion extended to them as they navigate this difficult time.

Further details will be shared in the coming days.

Media enquiries, Thuy Maryen: contact@4sd.org // +41 77 813 11 82

The Nutrition Dialogues enable people at risk of hunger and malnutrition to share experiences and explore actions which they believe will have the greatest impact. The proposed method for Nutrition Dialogues builds on 4SD’s experience of using facilitated, multistakeholder dialogues to address complex and contested issues, enabling people with diverse perspectives to align for impactful action.  The method is designed to encourage stakeholder alignment despite the complexity and variability of nutrition challenges in our world.

The background is that in 2018, five partners invited 4SD to curate Food Systems Dialogues. They were designed for diverse stakeholders to explore priorities for the future of food systems despite their different interests and perspectives.

The dialogue method was adopted by Dr Agnes Kalibata, the UN’s Special Envoy for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, as part of the preparatory process.  Each national government was invited to nominate a National Convenor to organize inclusive multi-stakeholder Food Systems Dialogues. There were also opportunities for the independent organization of dialogues.  By the time of the Summit, 110 000 participants were involved in at least 1650 dialogue events.  National Convenors were nominated in over 140 countries.  120 strategic pathways for future national food systems had emerged.

On 22 October 2024 a Comment was published in the journal Nature Food titled Food Systems Transformation through Dialogues.  It is a three-page article authored by Agnes Kalibata and me. We reflect on the extraordinary degree of popular engagement in the Food Systems Summit through the use of dialogues.  We offer some lessons that could be applied in other large-scale dialogue-based processes. It is our hope that what is in the article will resonate with Convenors of Nutrition Dialogues as well as with organizers of other dialogue events around the world.

The Comment is available here

4SD Foundation is an Initiating Partner of the Nutrition Dialogues.

The 2024 analysis of the State of Food Insecurity and malnutrition in our world was released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization on July 24th. Arriving less than a year before the end of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition and the Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris, March 2025, it offers a disturbing series of messages. One in 11 people in our world are hungry. Far too many of them are children. The level has stayed high for three successive years. The proportion is one out of every five in Africa, where hunger is also on the rise. The urgency to address nutrition challenges has never been greater.

That is why World Vision International and the 4SD Foundation have introduced the Nutrition Dialogues programme – an initiative aimed at amplifying the voices of those most at risk of malnutrition and elevating them to the highest levels in time for the Paris Summit.

While preparations are underway with global stakeholders for the next wave of critical nutrition policies and investments, the Nutrition Dialogues will enable investors to make decisions from the perspective of a mother with an undernourished family struggling to achieve nutrition in her own community. Building on the experience of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit Dialogues, the Nutrition Dialogues programme is designed to bring the lived experiences and perspectives of at-risk communities to the forefront – a human-centered approach to investment prioritization. The programme features two main event types:

• Stakeholder Dialogues: These events explore local nutritional contexts, identifying impactful interventions and prioritising actions to improve nutrition. Participants from various backgrounds come together to share their insights and propose solutions tailored to their unique environments. These dialogues will reach diverse participants, such as mothers, farmers, entrepreneurs and faith actors.
• Children’s Workshops: Aimed at young people aged 12 to 18, these workshops provide a platform for children to focus on nourishment and exchange ideas on how to enhance nutrition in their communities. The Nutrition Dialogues will raise the profile of good nutrition. They will connect people around the world, expose their concerns, distil their ideas, carry their messages and stimulate action with accountability.

The Nutrition Dialogues will bring the concerns and recommendations of mothers and children to policymakers and practitioners. Their voices will be aggregated amongst thousands to provide a collective call to action in specific alignment with their own needs and wants. Women, youth and children, in particular, will be empowered as our next-generation nutrition champions.

The programme will include at least 200 events worldwide during 2024, across 50 countries and engaging at least 6,000 participants. That number could be increased greatly as additional partners become involved.

The Dialogues are facilitated to give them depth and focus. The success of this initiative rests on the broadest possible partner mobilization, stakeholder convening, and community engagement. The outcomes are powerful stimuli for change that draw on lived experiences of those most at risk. They are adapted to local realities while reflecting common principles – including acceptance of, and respect for, different perspectives.

We call on all Partners to help elevate the voices of those experiencing or at risk of malnutrition so they reach the highest levels of national and global decision-making. All interested are encouraged to join the Nutrition Dialogues programme to identify Convenors and organise meaningful events. The Nutrition Dialogues will impact decisions that make a lasting difference in the nutrition landscape, empower thousands to lead the next generation of nutrition championship in their communities and countries, and foster well-nourished futures for all.

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Original article: https://nutritiondialogues.org/elevating-local-voices-to-global-heights-through-nutrition-dialogues/

Learn more at the Nutrition Dialogues Portal: nutritiondialogues.org

Organisations wanting to become Mobilising Partners are invited to contact the Nutrition Dialogues team at info@nutritiondialogues.org.

A feature of the visit was a public lecture at the Institute for International and European Affairs where David reflected on his current experiences with catalysing shifts in systems at a time of accelerating climate change, deepening inequalities, intense geopolitical tensions and social fragility.  He set out why he remains inspired and optimistic by ongoing efforts to achieve equity, sustainability and resilience through people-centered systems transformation.  

David shared his hopes for coming years, focused on local and national priorities with regard to climate action and sustainable development, and what these might mean for multilateral processes, for national governments, and for different groups of stakeholders. He noted that Ireland is already playing a leading role and could perhaps do even more – through sharing experiences more widely, as a trusted partner on the multilateral stage.  

During the visit, he also found time to sit down for an interview with Claire Byrne, on RTÉ Radio 1 (listen here) with whom he had many interactions with throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. They delved into a discussion about food systems, reflected on the COVID-19 pandemic response as well as more personal aspects about David’s life and achievements alongside the current events of the day.

The team returned to Geneva stimulated by the conversations, but more importantly by the people they met and their dedication to domestic and international food systems transformation. The team were also particularly encouraged by the broad appreciation of dialogue-based approaches when responding to complex systemic challenges such as food systems transformation.

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Watch the public lecture:

Listen to the public lecture on SoundCloud:

In June 2023, our Strategic Director, Sir David Nabarro, joined Wasafiri’s Director of the Systemcraft Institute, Dr Kate Simpson, in a Live Conversation discussing leadership, system change and staying relentlessly curious, whilst touching on some of the world’s most complex problems.

Systemcraft is Wasafiri’s framework for tackling complex problems. It helps change leaders and their institutions to answer “What next?”. It is built from a robust body of theory and grounded in our experience as change practitioners working in diverse contexts.

Click here to watch a recording directly or find it on the Systemcraft network – A place for purpose-driven leaders who want to learn and apply Systemcraft to get help from experts and peers, access training and resources, and stay inspired.

It features moving personal stories from Peru, Sri Lanka and Tunisia, and reactions from the experts working on a coordinated response to alleviate the suffering of millions. 4SD Foundation’s Strategic Director, David Nabarro, who is a member of the GCRG features in two of the videos.

Click here to view the playlist on the UN Geneva YouTube channel.

The episode sheds a light on his his career, focused on global health and details his time that’s taken him from the horrors of war torn Iraq, to the devastating aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami. The episode shares how he is still spurred to action by the tremendous inequalities in global access to medical care.

Click here to listen to the whole episode.

This collaboration enables us at 4SD Foundation to build on our extensive experience of accompanying countries in the design of dialogues and accompanying countries in the steering of national multisectoral, multistakeholder and multilevel efforts towards transformative outcomes.

The UN Food Systems Coordination Hub

Led by Stefanos Fotiou with the support of an Oversight Steering Group, the Food Systems Coordination Hub’s mission is to serve countries through systemic, country-driven, customized support in translating their commitments into effective actions to reach sustainable food systems by 2030, leveraging the wider UN system’s capacities.

The 2023 Stocktaking Moment

The 2023 Stocktaking Moment (STM) will take place in Rome 24-26 July 2023, and will be a critical milestone to assess preliminary progress nearly two years post Summit. The event plays a key role in sustaining the momentum for equitable resilient sustainable food systems in countries and globally, as well as to emphasize Sustainable Food Systems’ contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Preparations for the 2023 Stocktaking Moment

The quality and inclusiveness of national preparations towards the STM, including consultations, progress reviews in relation to national pathways, sharing of lessons learned, achievements, and challenges, will directly impact the overall quality and success of the STM and its outcomes, setting the direction for the next biennium 2023-2025.

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Image: Stefanos Fotiou, Agnes Kalibata, David Nabarro and Florence Lasbennes in a tweet by Agnes Kalibata celebrating 112 countries committed to transforming food systems through national pathways. Source: Twitter

For more information about the Food Systems Coordination Hub and the 2023 Stocktaking Moment, visit https://www.unfoodsystemshub.org/en