United Nations System 
                                                                                                                                                                
                                      STANDING COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION 
                                                                                                                                                                
                             
                            In 1977, following the World Food Conference (with particular reference to Resolution V on food and nutrition) the  
                            Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), comprised of the heads of the UN Agencies, recommended the 
                            establishment of the Sub-Committee on Nutrition.   This was approved by the Economic and Social Council of the UN 
                            (ECOSOC).  Following the reform of the ACC in 2001, the ACC/SCN was renamed the United Nations System Standing 
                            Committee on Nutrition or simply the SCN. The SCN reports to the Chief Executives Board of the UN, the successor of the 
                            ACC. The UN members of the SCN are ECA, FAO, IAEA, IFAD, ILO, UN, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, 
                            UNFPA, UNHCHR, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNRISD, UNU, WFP, WHO and the World Bank.  IFPRI and the ADB are also 
                            members.  From the outset, representatives of bilateral donor agencies have participated actively in SCN activities as do non-
                            governmental organizations.  The SCN Secretariat is hosted by WHO in Geneva. 
                             
                            The mandate of the SCN is to serve as the UN focal point for promoting harmonized nutrition policies and strategies 
                            throughout the UN system, and to strengthen collaboration with other partners for accelerated and more effective action 
                            against malnutrition.  The aim of the SCN  is to raise awareness of and concern for nutrition problems at global, regional 
                            and national levels; to refine the direction, increase the scale and strengthen the coherence and impact of actions against 
                            malnutrition worldwide; and to promote cooperation among UN agencies and partner organizations.  The SCN’s annual 
                            meetings have representation from UN Agencies, donor agencies and NGOs; these meetings begin with symposia on 
                            subjects of current importance for policy.  The SCN brings such matters to the attention of the UN Secretary General and 
                            convenes working groups on specialized areas of nutrition.  Initiatives are taken to promote coordinated activities—
                            interagency programmes, meetings, publications—aimed at reducing malnutrition, reflecting the shared views of the agencies 
                            concerned.  Regular reports on the world nutrition situation are issued.  Nutrition Policy Papers are produced to summarize 
                            current knowledge on selected topics.  SCN News is published twice a year, and the RNIS is published quarterly. As decided 
                            by the Standing Committee, initiatives are taken to promote coordinated activities—inter-agency programmes, meetings, 
                            publications aimed at reducing malnutrition, primarily in developing countries. 
                                                                         This issue of 

was edited by Andrea D Moreira, MPS ID    
                                                           Sonya Rabeneck, PhD is Editor-in-Chief       Cover illustration by Stefan Boness 
                                

 is issued in July and December each year by the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition 
                                 (SCN).  Your contributions to future issues are most welcome.  

 aims to help the sharing of experience in 
                           nutrition.  If you wish to receive additional copies of 

, or would like to suggest other names to be added to our 
                                                                         distribution list, please write to us or visit our website at: http://www.unsystem.org/scn 
                                                                                                                                                                
                         Chairman:  A. Namanga Ngongi                                                                                        Technical Secretary:   Sonya Rabeneck  
                         Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to                                                       SCN  c/o World Health Organization 
                         the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUC Headquarters                                                                        20 Avenue Appia 
                         P O Box 4653, Grand Central Station                                                                                                          CH-1211 Geneva 27  
                         New York, N.Y. 10163-4653 USA                                                                                                                               Switzerland  
                         Telephone:  243 880 5831, Fax: 41-22 798 88 91                                            Telephone:  41-22 791 04 56, Fax:  41-22 798 88 91 
                         Email: ngongi@un.org                                                                                                                              Email: accscn@who.int 
                          
                          

 provides information on issues of importance in the field of international nutrition.  All manuscripts submitted 
                          for consideration are peer-reviewed, although publication is not guaranteed.  Overall editorial control is retained by the SCN 
                          Secretariat.  Every effort is made to ascertain the validity of the information contained in SCN publications.   Contributing 
                          authors are responsible for the accuracy of references.  Manuscript guidelines are available.  Items published by the SCN 
                          Secretariat do not imply endorsement of views given, nor necessarily the official positions taken by the SCN and its member 
                          agencies.  The status of quotes and other material is generally indicated in the text and/or sources. 
                                      Readers are encouraged to review, abstract, reproduce or translate this document in part or in whole 
                                                                                                                      — but please attribute to the SCN 
                                                                                                                                                                
                              We gratefully acknowledge funding assistance from the German Foundation for 
                                    International Development (DSE)/Centre for Food, Rural Development and the  
                                                             Environment (ZEL), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische  
                                                             Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the Government of the Nether lands  
                                             and USAID* for the preparation and printing of this issue of SCN News 
                             * The distribution of the publication was made possible in part through the support provided to the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) Project by the Office of Programs, Polices and Man-
                             agement of the Bureau for Humanitarian Response at the U.S. Agency for International Development, under the terms of  Cooperative Agreement No. HRN-A-00-98-00046-00 awarded to the Academy 
                             for Educational Development (AED).  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development. 
       Abraham Besrat 
           1938-2002 
        
        
                Abraham Besrat died on April 4 at his home in Addis Ababa after a brief illness.  Africa and 
        the entire nutrition community has lost one of its most effective advocates.  Abraham was wise 
        and honest; he was a gentle person and a fine professional.   
         
                Abraham obtained his first degree in agriculture at the Imperial Ethiopian Agricultural and 
        Mechanical Arts College in Addis.  He did his MSc at Oklahoma State University; his thesis was 
        on the biological value of Ethiopia's main crop tef.  After completing a PhD at the University of 
        Minnesota he returned to Ethiopia in 1961, where for 15 years he taught biochemistry at Addis 
        Ababa University. He rose through the academic ranks to become Dean of Agriculture, Associate 
        Dean of Research and then founding Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.  Abraham's first 
        contact with the SCN was in 1981 when he presented a paper at a workshop on nutrition and ag-
        riculture at Castelgandolfo, Italy.  He was a true friend and supporter of the aims of the SCN, and 
        the work programme of the Secretariat, over many years.  
         
                From 1982-1983 Abraham was a UNU Senior Fellow at the International Food and Nutrition 
        Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Because the political situation in Ethiopia 
        had changed, it became difficult for Abraham to return to his country, so he took a position at FAO 
        in Rome. He was highly regarded in the corridors of FAO, and much admired for in-depth knowl-
        edge of the linkages between nutrition and agriculture as well as his patience and good humour.  
        Abraham then moved to a UNU position in Tokyo. This provided the opportunity for the family to 
        be together, after many year of separation due to the political situation in Ethiopia.  The Besrat 
        family prospered in Tokyo and learned fluent Japanese, "except for me" Abraham would say with 
        a smile, "after twelve years, I can manage a courageous few words."  
         
                When Abraham retired from the UNU he continued to represent the UNU Rector, while re-
        establishing his home in Addis.  Abraham played an important role in both the Nairobi and Berlin 
        annual sessions.  It was indeed a great pleasure and privilege to welcome him back to the SCN 
        forum. In Berlin in March, Abraham spoke enthusiastically about his plans to move to a new office 
        in Addis, expand his crop breeding work and move the capacity building agenda steadfastly for-
        ward in Africa.  The news of his death just a few weeks later was so unexpected. The SCN Secre-
        tariat extends sincerest sympathy to his wife, Tsehai, and their two children.