Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- From 1 to 5 March 2021, experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized an online technical training seminar for employees of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics. The sessions were devoted to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the indicators "Prevalence of malnutrition" and "Level of moderate or severe food insecurity of the population."

“Within the UN system, FAO is the coordinator of 21 SDG indicators and a co-implementing agency for 5 more indicators. In this capacity, FAO is supporting countries to monitor progress towards the 2030 Agenda,” said FAO Statistics Officer Firas Yassin.

During the workshop, the definition of the Prevalence of Malnutrition indicator and its main characteristics were given. The prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) is an estimate of the proportion of the population whose usual food intake is insufficient to meet the dietary energy requirement to maintain a normal, active and healthy life. This rating is expressed as a percentage.

The class discussed the food security monitoring system, problems and difficulties in assessing PoU based on household income and expenditure surveys. In addition, hands-on training was given to participants on food consumption analysis and demographic data analysis to calculate PoU.

Also, within the framework of the workshop, a definition and a summary of the basic statistical principles of another indicator of the achievement of the SDGs - "The level of moderate or severe food insecurity of the population" was given. The indicator was said to provide internationally comparable estimates of the proportion of the population with moderate or significant difficulty in accessing food.

Based on direct surveys, the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) measures the severity of food insecurity experienced by individuals or households. This indicator aims to measure progress towards SDG Target 2.1, which reads: “By 2030, end hunger and ensure that all, especially the poor and vulnerable, including infants, have access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food year round.” Hands-on training was provided on data analysis to calculate the prevalence of food insecurity based on the FIES. The features of FIES-based indicators and other food security indicators were also discussed.

The technical training workshop, organized by FAO, will further improve the work of the staff of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics, in particular, in monitoring the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.