In 2024, Paris will host the Nutrition for Growth Summit, a global pledging event to end malnutrition. At the last iteration of this event, in Tokyo in 2021, the Group of 7 major industrial nations’ leaders committed to building “on the success of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit in 2021 for the Paris N4G in 2024 to improve nutrition.” Yet it seems there is currently little momentum for the Paris summit, with still no firm date, location, or agenda outline.
For context, in the lead-up to the Tokyo summit, the Japanese government had its hands full with the response to COVID-19 in terms of both people power and funds. Everyone doubted whether a face-to-face conference would even be held.
Still, the 2021 summit achieved the highest level of international commitment to nutrition compared to the previous summits. In Tokyo, a total of 396 commitments were submitted by 181 stakeholders, including 66 countries, 26 private sectors, and 51 civil societies — representing $27 billion in financial contributions. So how did Japan pull this off?