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[edit] Network for Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency
The Network for Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency is an alliance of major organizations that share a common commitment to assist countries in reaching the goal of sustained elimination of Iodine Deficiency. It includes civil society member organizations that bring enormous individual assets to the table.
[edit] History of the Network
The idea of a partnership to further collaboration in the sustained elimination of iodine deficiency was first explored in May 2000 at the Eighth World Salt Symposium (Salt 2000) in The Hague, the Netherlands. The event brought together the key players – the salt industry, UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, civic groups such as Kiwanis International, and scientific bodies like ICCIDD and PAMM.
In May 2002, at the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Children the Network was given a high profile launch announced by the Director General of WHO, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland at an UNGASS side event "A Smart Start for Children" where a Plan of Action for meeting the Millennium Development Goals, including "Achieve the sustainable elimination of iodine deficiency by 2005" was adopted.
[edit] Network’s Objectives
The vision of the Network is of a world in which every child is born protected from iodine deficiency that resulting brain damage, and in which the entire population is protected from the loss of intellectual and physical resources through this easily preventable cause of mental retardation.
The Network’s mission is then to support national efforts to eliminate iodine deficiency in a sustainable manner by promoting collaboration among public, private, scientific and civic organizations.
The goal of the Network is to harmonize support activities that assist countries in reaching the goal of sustained elimination of iodine deficiency through universal salt iodization/iodized salt.
[edit] The Added Value of the Network
While international agencies can and do support national efforts to achieve and sustain elimination of iodine deficiency, the key responsibilities lie at national level - with national governments, salt producers and civil society. The main role of the Network is to strengthen national efforts by taking action at the international and regional levels, where it can add most value, as well as to better harmonize the support to countries provided by Network member organizations.
The Network will add value to other initiatives, including those of its own member organizations in the following ways:
- Play an advocacy role at international and regional levels with the combined authority of all its member organizations behind it.
- Review progress globally and make it widely available so that international organizations and national governments can identify where additional effort and new strategies should be applied.
- Agree on priority countries and priority actions to reduce fragmentation of international efforts.
- Harmonize actions of its member organizations to focus on a particular aspect of the problem and so reach greater effectiveness than more isolated efforts could achieve.
- Involve its private sector members in helping countries and salt producers around the world to promote and market iodized salt to consumers.
Each of the member organizations of the Network brings complementary mandates and competencies so that together they form a Network that adds value over and above what each organization is doing on its own. This is the strength of the public-private-civil society global alliance.
[edit] Network Members and Secretariat
The Network has 13 members i.e. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), China National Salt Industry Corporation, Consumers International, Emory University, EuSalt, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), ICCIDD, Kiwanis International, Micronutrient Initiative, Salt Institute, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. The Board will consider if and when the composition of the alliance should be augmented to improve the Network’s capacity to add further value.
A UNICEF representative currently chairs the Network Board and a representative from Salt Industry is the Vice Chair. The Secretariat of the Network is housed at the Micronutrient Initiative office in Ottawa, Canada.
