COMCEC
Malnutrition in the OIC Member
Countries: A Trap for Poverty
The OIC is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, and
comprises 57 member states across four continents. Its aim is to safeguard and protect the
interests of Muslims across the world as well as to promote international peace and harmony.1
Besides global efforts to tackle malnutrition, OIC member states have mobilised many joint
efforts in recent years to help address the problem. For example, the theme of the Fourth
Islamic Conference of Health Ministers held in 2013 was “Better Nutrition, Better Health,
Better Ummah”. One of the outcomes of the conference was adoption of the OIC Strategic
Health Programme of Action 2014-2023 (OIC-SHPA] and the definition of one of the six
thematic areas for cooperation and joint action area as “Maternal, New-born and Child Health
and Nutrition”.
Objectives and Methodology of the Study
The aim of the study is to analyse the current status, causes and consequences of malnutrition
as well as efforts addressing malnutrition in OIC countries, with a focus on poverty, maternal
malnutrition and malnutrition of children under the age of five. In light of these objectives, the
study aims to answer the following research questions:
(1] What is the international experience in tackling malnutrition?
(2] What is the current international thinking on the causes of malnutrition?
(3] What are the levels and trends of malnutrition across the OICmember states?
(4] What regional and national policies related to malnutrition are relevant across the
OICmember states?
(5] How is child malnutrition across the OIC member states related to issues of
maternal nutrition and poverty?
The study pursued three strands of enquiry: First, a summary of the conceptual discussions
around the relationships between malnutrition and poverty and between maternal and child
malnutrition. This summary answers questions 1 and 2 above. The findings of this part of the
research are described in section 2.
In the second strand of enquiry, the research group focused on OIC member states and
collected secondary nutrition data to paint a detailed picture of the general situation of
malnutrition in OIC countries. This information was combined with indicators of economic
development in order to generate knowledge on the relationship between development,
poverty and malnutrition. Furthermore, regional policy documents were studied in order to
understand the state of global policies regarding malnutrition in OIC countries. Findings from
this strand are presented in section 3.
Finally, 5 OIC countries were selected for in-depth case studies: Senegal, Bangladesh,
Indonesia, Tajikistan and Egypt. These countries represent different world regions and trends
of malnutrition. For each of these countries, a statistical analysis of the correlates of child
malnutrition and a statistical analysis of the intergenerational transmission of malnutrition are
provided, based on the latest available data. Key stakeholder interviews were also conducted
in each of these countries as well as a review of the secondary literature to better understand
the levels and dynamics of malnutrition, the key drivers of malnutrition, the links between
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