Proposal on a small Interim Working Group

The Festive Opening Ceremony at Salt2000 marked a significant turning point in the history of eliminating iodine deficiency in the world. For the first time since the World Summit on Children in 1990, the salt industry publicly stated its acceptance of its specific role and responsibility in universal salt iodization. After the Opening Ceremony, a Roundtable discussion of leaders of Government, bilateral and UN agencies, civic organizations, scientific groups and salt industry considered the needs and ways of accomplishing the elimination goal and sustaining it in all countries in the world from mutually supportive actions among the partnership. 

The Roundtable acknowledged that the progress made from the past decade of action provided a strong rationale to consolidate the achievements in USI, and to accelerate action to accomplish the elimination goal. There was emphasis on continued support for national alliances to oversee that elimination is sustained, once achieved in a country. Roundtable members argued for continuation of the ongoing partnership, and agreed that an interim working group should be formed to hold the coalition together and recommend further action not now being handled by one or more of the allies. MI offered to serve as secretariat for the group. 

The Roundtable made a number of valid points to form a basis for designing a work plan. There was a strong call for imaginative consumer education to bolster the demand for the product, but also for improved public understanding of iodine nutrition. Collaborative work to strengthen and sustain government support and political will was identified for priority. Appropriate transfer of technology and management modernization training was proposed, particularly in iodine deficient countries with a sizable number of smaller producers. The group stated the need for examination of trends in iodine access also in industrialized countries, and reporting of USI status worldwide. 

AN OUTLINE OF TASKS AHEAD

From the recommendations and ideas shared at the Roundtable, areas for future action of the Partnership could be categorized as follows:

Information and Communication 

. National Watch over Progress:
Global elimination of iodine deficiency can be sustained successfully from national leaderships. National alliances of multi-disciplinary composition from the public, private and civic sectors are positioned best to oversee the progress and resolve issues as they come up. Inputs from UN agencies and scientific groups in countries should buttress such alliances. The global partnership could assist in expanding and strengthening the capacities to oversee the progress in national alliances, monitor the quality of iodized salt and its national deliveries, and verify the continued adequacy of iodine status of the population. The Partnership would apply quality management principles to pursue its mission. Evidence from national sources would enable a functional Partnership to analyze appropriate problems in USI in countries, prioritize them for collaborative assistance, implement actions with emphasis on value addition, and validate the impact from its work.

. Salt Watch over Deliveries: 
To complement the National Watches, an ongoing salt information management system would obtain, analyze and share data of iodized salt production and delivery nationally. This could be initiated from the networks of leading salt industries, and soon be extended to progressively include also the developing world and smaller scale industries. 

. Partnership Responses:
A response on a particular situation should take advantage of combined talents and expertise from the members. For instance, the partnership could strengthen the agenda of regional salt producer associations, initiated from the meetings in preparation of Salt2000. One mechanism might be to explore how existent salt producer associations in Europe and US might help with training and information exchange. Partners also could assist in developing the national talent to track shifts in iodine status along with changes in dietary consumption, and influence the political will to adjust the national policy accordingly. A data resource could be shared of up-to-date contacts on where and how to access technical information, other inputs, equipment and machinery, raw materials, test kits, laboratory supplies, etc. 

Coordination for action:

Leaders of the partnership should consider the need for creating a focal point for action. The work of a secretariat might include: 

• Manage the agenda of joint advocacy and action in assistance to national alliances, and re-enforcement to national and global policies
• Communicate among the partners in support of public reporting of continued global and national progress
• Mobilize and oversee the assistance to global and national efforts to increase or restore access to iodized salt of households not reached
• Expand the coverage of partnership actions and information reporting to all countries of the world, including industrialized regions

Pursue special interests in certain regions ( Europe , for instance), responsive actions (to address public perceptions, for instance), local technical training ( Senegal , Madagascar were cited as examples), etc

Suggested Next Steps:

• The hosts of the Roundtable should agree on nominating a small Interim Working Group. Some resources are needed for travel and sundry costs. 
• Two IWG meetings are recommended: Early September and early December. The September meeting should consider and define the IWG action plan. The meeting in December is intended to consider recommendations from the IWG on a future mission and work plan of the Partnership, and establishment of a global focal point.
• Leaders of the partnership should decide on establishing formal collaboration based on the recommendations of the IWG in a Round Table, possibly in Europe in early 2001.