Malnutrition is not simply a technical issue but a human rights issue and ultimately a resource issue . . . UNHCR will pursue measures to meet acceptable humanitarian standards related to the nutritional and health status of refugee through systematic monitoring, strategic partnership, technical capacity, advocacy and resource mobilization. (UNHCR Standing Committee (36th meeting), report on "Nutrition" - EC/57/SC/CRP.17, 7 June 2006)

Ensuring that people have access to adequate food and safe water is essential for protecting the safety, health and well-being of refugees and other populations of concern. For this reason, UNHCR strives to improve the nutritional status of all the people it serves – mostly women and children. Where there is freedom from hunger and malnutrition, there is also hope for a better future.

The right to freedom from hunger and malnutrition is backed by international conventions. Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes a child's right to enjoy the highest standards of health and health care. It also recognizes the right of all children – including refugees – to adequate nutritious food and to clean drinking water. The first Millennium Development Goal, moreover, calls for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

The goals of ensuring that refugees have access to adequate health services, food security, water and of improving their nutrition are also included in UNHCR's Global Strategic Objectives for 2007-2009. UNHCR will reach these targets in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP) and other governmental and non-governmental partners.

High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has stressed the importance that UNHCR places on nutrition and health. Through partnership-building and strategic funding decisions, UNHCR is making progress toward its goal of ensuring that international nutrition standards are met for all populations receiving assistance and protection. This includes ensuring that nutrition and health activities are given priority in the Country Operations Planning budget for 2008-2009.

UNHCR has also identified essential packages to improve services for populations in need in the areas of nutrition and micronutrients as well as related areas such as reproductive health, malaria and child survival. In addition, greater emphasis and resources are being put into building the capacity of UNHCR and its partners through training, standard guidelines, strategic plans and additional staffing, coordination and appropriate programme practices.

The UN refugee agency is the lead agency in coordinating refugee nutrition. To ensure that nutrition policy is consistent and relevant throughout all its humanitarian work, UNHCR is a member of the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition, the interagency working groups on infant and young child feeding, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Nutrition Cluster led by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition Initiative led by UNICEF and WFP.

The relationship between nutrition and public health is clear. The World Health Organization says communicable diseases brought on in part by malnutrition are responsible for millions of preventable deaths each year. Mass population movements can result in extremely high rates of malnutrition, sickness and death. Shortage of food also makes people more vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation, which also has serious public health implications.

For those UNHCR serves who are living with chronic illnesses in particular HIV/AIDS, adequate nutrition is vital in maintaining an individual's immune system and in sustaining a desirable weight for optimal quality of life. Adequate nutrition is also needed to maximize the benefits of antiretroviral treatment, which can sustain life and preserve families, including the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

UNHCR rigorously monitors the nutrition of people of concern through the Health Information System (HIS), regular surveys and nutrition-related databases.