A Message from the Chair of MI's Board of Directors

This year, the world's leaders will meet at the United Nations Headquarters to review the global progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. In so many ways, the work that we do in the Micronutrient Initiative ( MI ) is of great relevance to these Goals, to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, improve maternal health, reduce child mortality and empower women. In fact, the report that the UN Secretary General will soon put forward to world leaders notes some quick wins that will help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Predictably, quite a few of these quick wins are in the area of vitamin and mineral deficiency control.

The Lancet recently published a series of articles on neonatal mortality. These also highlight the important role that nutrition, including vitamin and mineral deficiency control, can contribute in child survival and development. More recently, the Commission for Africa Report made some very strong statements regarding the importance of micronutrient programming and its contribution to Africa 's development. Over the past year, as in previous years, the Micronutrient Initiative has been at the forefront of global efforts to end vitamin and mineral deficiency within this broad development context.

With a firm realization that one of MI 's strengths is the ability to bring the public and private sectors to work together, we are increasingly engaging with the corporate sector to facilitate the sharing of their experience in product development, marketing and management, and to increase their financial contributions in scaling up national fortification and iodization programs.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF have recently developed a new global immunization vision and strategy. One of the new elements of this strategy, the “immunization plus” element, specifically addresses how we can take advantage of opportunities for immunization to provide other essential health services, including de-worming, vitamin A supplementation and other services and to make that very much a part of this expanded immunization program.

The Micronutrient Initiative's efforts to integrate vitamin and mineral programming, particularly vitamin A supplementation, with these essential health services will no doubt have a tremendous impact not only on child survival and development, but also on strengthening national health systems towards achieving the broader Millennium Development Goals.

MI 's programming focuses on four main sectors: child survival, improving maternal health and child development, strategic policy support to national governments and advocacy, and knowledge and partnership building. This report outlines some of our achievements.