A Note from Spencer Kirk

Spencer Kirk wrote to partners and the nutrition community to reflect on the progress made at this year’s United Nations General Assembly.

Pictured left to right: Jon Baptiste and Bill Gates on CBS Mornings News discuss multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS bottle shown in bottom right corner)

At this year’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), my wife Kristen and I attended a series of events with leading entities working to address global malnutrition, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s annual Goalkeepers event. MMS is one of the interventions featured in their 2024 Goalkeepers report, which highlights its potential to save 500,000 lives and improve birth outcomes for 25 million babies in low-and middle-income countries by 2040. For decades, Kirk Humanitarian has worked toward and anticipated big moments like these, when the spotlight shines directly on maternal and newborn health with united recognition of how improving it is a critical lever to improve our world.

We are excited to report back to you, our close partners and friends, how hopeful and energized we feel after meeting with UNICEF, Gates Foundation, CIFF, and many others at UNGA. Reflecting on our time there, it is very clear to us that protecting the health and nutritional status of pregnant women is now widely recognized and firmly embraced as an opportunity that can no longer be overlooked. Multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) shared that bright spotlight, as shown here in the CBS Morning interview with Bill Gates and singer/songwriter Jon Baptiste.

Pictured left to right: Jon Baptiste and Bill Gates on CBS Mornings News discuss multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS bottle shown in bottom right corner)

That said, the hard work continues until every woman has access to the nutrition she needs to ensure a healthy pregnancy. Kirk Humanitarian is continuing to support the Child Nutrition Fund, the UNICEF-led funding mechanism that is uniquely set up to incentivize and support countries that are ready to scale up interventions like MMS. Earlier this spring, Kirk Humanitarian committed to providing UNIMMAP MMS to 16 million pregnant women through the CNF, which provides all of the product needed to support UNICEF’s Improving Maternal Nutrition Acceleration Plan.

Continue reading to see how countries are already taking advantage of this opportunity and receiving product for delivery and, at the same time, developing and implementing costed roadmaps to ensure all women are able to receive essential nutrition support during their pregnancies.

Read Kirk Humanitarian’s full October newsletter here.