Advancing Gender Equality for Optimal Nutrition in Adolescent Girls and Women

About

Securing the nutrition rights of adolescent girls and women requires tackling the dual goals of ending malnutrition and gender inequality in tandem. Nutrition policies and programmes must tackle the immediate and underlying causes of malnutrition in girls and women while confronting the structural inequalities that drive and perpetuate malnutrition. Addressing gender equality enables adolescent girls and women to access nutritious diets and quality nutrition services, and have the agency to make positive nutrition-related decisions and adopt positive nutrition and care practices.

This technical guide builds a common understanding of the interlinkages between gender equality and adolescent girls’ and women’s nutrition by:

• Highlighting the ways in which gender equality is situated within and enhances UNICEF’s nutrition frameworks and priorities;
• Outlining key features of gender-responsive and gender-transformative nutrition programmes;
• Illustrating how gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches can contribute to positive nutrition outcomes for adolescent girls and women while advancing gender equality; and
• Illustrating key steps that can be taken to make nutrition programmes more gender-responsive and gender-transformative.

Author(s)

UNICEF