Abuja: Stakeholders have called for stronger youth participation in nutrition advocacy and policymaking to translate community priorities into measurable action against malnutrition across Nigeria. The call was made at the inception meeting of the Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society (CS-SUNN) Youth Leaders for Nutrition (YL4N) Nigeria network, held virtually on Tuesday.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the meeting brought together youth advocates, civil society organisations, government representatives, academia, research networks, and other stakeholders to discuss youth-led action on nutrition. CS-SUNN Project Manager, Ridwan Awosanya, stated that the initiative was designed to move beyond previous advocacy gains by translating nutrition efforts into measurable outcomes at national, subnational, and community levels. Awosanya emphasized that the Youth Leaders for Nutrition project aims to connect grassroots nutrition priorities with decision-makers through evidence-based advocacy.
Awosanya identified capacity building, youth-led community dialogues, evidence documentation, and presentation of recommendations to policymakers as key stages of the implementation process. He mentioned that youth leaders would receive practical skills in dialogue facilitation, advocacy, safeguarding, and reporting to identify local nutrition priorities and develop actionable policy recommendations. The project is being expanded to 10 locations: Cross River, FCT, Enugu, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Oyo, Bauchi, Lagos, Ebonyi, and Kano.
Mrs. Olufunmilola Adegbite, Director and Head of the Nutrition Department at the Federal Ministry of Health, expressed the ministry’s readiness to collaborate with the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Youth Movement. Adegbite said the collaboration would support nutrition improvement across sectors including health, agriculture, education, social protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Jessica Bartholomew, Chairperson of the Steering Committee at CS-SUNN, described young people as critical drivers of change who must be integrated into policymaking processes. She stated that the initiative would help build a responsive and accountable alliance through inclusive policy engagement and evidence-based action.
Prof. Kola Anigo, National Coordinator of the Academic and Research Network for Scaling Up Nutrition (ARN-SUNN), emphasized the importance of a whole-of-society approach to tackling malnutrition. Anigo urged government, academia, researchers, and young people to work as active partners rather than treating youths merely as beneficiaries of nutrition interventions. He pledged the network’s support in research, evidence generation, capacity strengthening, and mentorship to ensure youth participation was informed by credible evidence.
Sean Counihan, Senior Advocacy and Youth Adviser at the Global SUN Civil Society Network Secretariat, described Nigeria’s approach to youth engagement as a model with lessons for other countries. Counihan noted that Nigeria was demonstrating a shift from confrontational advocacy to a more collaborative relationship between young people and government. He highlighted that the project’s success would depend on an enabling environment where civil society, academia, and the private sector supported youth leadership.
The meeting also emphasized the need for stakeholders to provide continuous guidance, mentorship, information, networks, and policy opportunities to emerging youth advocates. Participants were encouraged to create institutional spaces for young people to contribute meaningfully to nutrition discussions across sectors.
Expected outcomes from the initiative include better-equipped youth leaders, generation of locally relevant nutrition evidence through community dialogues, and stronger youth participation in civil society structures. The initiative also seeks to translate community findings into clear advocacy demands capable of influencing nutrition policies and programmes.
A youth participant from Kano, Mr. Salmanu, appreciated the support provided to young people to strengthen their advocacy skills. Another participant, Khadijat Abdulrahman, commended the organisers for involving youths in major campaigns and providing opportunities for growth.
The organisers stated that sustained collaboration among youth networks, CS-SUNN, government nutrition structures, academia, the SUN Business Network, communities, civil society organisations, and development partners would be critical to scaling up youth-led nutrition advocacy nationwide.