Former Concern chief to lead UN initiative to combat malnutrition

Former Concern Worldwide chief executive Tom Arnold will next week take up an interim role as coordinator of a United Nations initiative aimed at reducing the number of people across the world affected by malnutrition.

Mr Arnold will assume the lead role with the Geneva-based Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (Sun Movement) for six months from Monday.

The position arises as the current coordinator of the group, Dr David Nabarro, has been chosen by the UN to lead its response to the recent Ebola virus outbreak, which has killed more than 1,500 people in West Africa this summer. Dr Nabarro was previously involved in the response to the 2005 Avian flu crisis.

The Sun Movement initiative announced in 2010 by former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and then minister for foreign affairs Michéal Martin aims to reduce the number of people, especially children, experiencing malnutrition. A particular focus of the movement is on improving nutrition during the vulnerable 1,000 days between pregnancy and a child's second birthday.

Contributors to the movement include governments, civil society groups, donors, businesses and researchers. A total of 54 countries affected by malnutrition have signed up to the movement and committed to implementing its principles and policies.

Mr Arnold, who studied agricultural economics at University College Dublin and is chairman of The Irish Times Trust, has worked with the Sun Movement since April 2012, when he was appointed to the movement's lead group by UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon .

Other members of the lead group include former president Mary Robinson, now UN special envoy on climate change, and Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Mr Arnold has been serving as director general of the Dublin-based think-tank the Institute of International and European Affairs since he left his role with Concern last year and was also chairman of the Constitutional Convention. He will continue in his role with the institute in a scaled-back capacity during the six-month term.