Investing in nutrition is a best-buy for global health that leads to healthy societies, healthier economies and stronger human capital. However, 148 million children are still stunted and one in every seven children is born with low birthweight globally.
A recent World Bank report, Investment Framework for Nutrition 2024, revealed that for every dollar invested in addressing undernutrition, a return of $23 is expected. In support of the upcoming 2025 Paris Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit and the World Bank Group’s recent announcement of reaching 1.5 billion people with better health services by 2030, this seminar provided an opportunity to discuss key findings of the Investment Framework on cost-effective, evidence-based investments and policy measures for countries to draw on to address undernutrition and overweight/obesity.
The Investment Framework also urges collective efforts to build country capacities for more effective and sustainable financing to tackle all forms of malnutrition, which plays a pivotal role in advancing Human Capital, attaining the Universal Health Coverage and moving towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Program:
Opening remarks
Daisaku Kihara
Director, Development Policy Division, International Bureau, Ministry of Finance, Japan
Introduction and keynote speech
Abigail Perry
Global Program Lead for Nutrition, World Bank
Presentation on Investment Framework for Nutrition 2024
Kyoko Okamura
Senior Nutrition Specialist, World Bank
Commentary
Haruko Kamei
Director General, Human Development, Japan International Cooperation Agency
Koichi Omori
Senior External Affairs Officer, World Bank Tokyo Office
About the speakers:
Abigail Perry
Global Program Lead for Nutrition, World Bank
Abigail (Abi) joined the World Bank as Global Program Lead for Nutrition in January 2025. Prior to this, she was Director of Nutrition at the World Food Programme since August 2021, providing strategic oversight of WFP’s contribution to addressing malnutrition and leading the development of WFP’s 2025-2030 strategy to address malnutrition and improve diets. Before joining WFP, Abi was Head of the Nutrition Policy team at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (formerly the UK Department for International Development). In this role, Abi provided strategic leadership of the UK government’s work on nutrition, working closely with other donors, philanthropic foundations, and government actors, including in support of the Nutrition for Growth Summits in Brazil and Tokyo. Abi led the design of the UK’s 2017 nutrition position paper and ensured the UK delivered the commitments to nutrition made at the 2013 Nutrition for Growth Summit. Abi has also worked as a nutrition specialist with Save the Children and Action Against Hunger in a range of humanitarian and development nutrition roles in Africa and Asia and led research and capacity development initiatives on nutrition at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and University College London. Abi has an MSc in Public Health Nutrition.
Kyoko Shibata Okamura
Senior Nutrition Specialist, World Bank
Kyoko has over 20 years of experience in the areas of health policy research, nutrition finance and governance, and large-scale nutrition program management in high-malnutrition-burden countries. She has been actively co-leading policy, analytical and technical work in areas such as nutrition-responsive public financial management, obesity prevention strategies including nutrition-targeted health policy and fiscal measures, nutrition service delivery in Universal Health Coverage, and muti-sectoral leveraging of agriculture, social protection and education platforms. She serves as a finance expert member in the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement Executive Committee and is co-leading the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Financing and Accountability Working Group. She is a co-editor of the Investment Framework for Nutrition 2024.