Press release

COPENHAGEN CONSENSUS CENTER COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL • SOLBJERG PLADS 3 • 2000 FREDERIKSBERG • DENMARK

+45 3815 22 55 • INFO.CCC@CBS.DK • WWW.COPENHAGENCONSENSUS.COM

Copenhagen Consensus in New York Rewards Innovative Malnutrition Research

Prize Goes to Zinc Research as Experts Gather at UNICEF House

November 11, 2009 – Experts and representatives from NGOs and aid organizations gathered at UNICEF House in New York to examine cost-effective solutions and innovative approaches to solve the problem of malnutrition, in a conference organized by the Copenhagen Consensus Center.

The audience voted to award a prize of DKK 25000 to Sonja Hess, PhD student from the Department of Nutrition and Program in International and Community Nutrition, University of California Davis, for her research into “Therapeutic Zinc Supplementation”. The prize was donated by Denmark-based company Gumlink. Speakers at the conference included UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman and Danish Ambassador to the United Nations, H.E.Carsten Staur. Nutrition Associate Director at UNICEF Werner Schultink said: “Proper nutrition helps give every child the best start in life. UNICEF has worked from its founding on nutrition programming aimed at fulfilling every child’s right to adequate nutrition. That is why we welcome the Copenhagen Consensus conferences designed to highlight ways to effectively address the challenge of malnutrition.” In addition to creating a forum for rewarding innovative research, the Copenhagen Consensus Center shared its series of Best Practice Papers showing how governments can concretely respond to the problems of malnutrition, released at an earlier conference in Nairobi, Kenya, last week. A Copenhagen Consensus Best Practice Paper author, Professor Sue Horton, is the CIGI Chair of Global Health Economics, University of Waterloo and Visiting Scientist Micro nutrient Initiative. Professor Horton said: “The Copenhagen Consensus Best Practice Papers provide policy-makers with a clear and practical guide to making breakthroughs against the scourge of malnutrition. The conferences in Kenya and New York help to put this problem on the political agenda, and

Press release

COPENHAGEN CONSENSUS CENTER COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL • SOLBJERG PLADS 3 • 2000 FREDERIKSBERG • DENMARK

+45 3815 22 55 • INFO.CCC@CBS.DK • WWW.COPENHAGENCONSENSUS.COM

underscore the importance of partnerships between governments, donors, and innovative think-tanks like the Copenhagen Consensus Center” Copenhagen Consensus Center director Bjørn Lomborg said: “The Copenhagen Consensus malnutrition conferences in Nairobi and New York were a huge success – but we need to do a lot more to ensure that malnutrition interventions remain on the agenda. “It was inspirational to see the excellent research coming from this field. It was great to be able to recognize and applaud some of those researchers, and to release research that will be of concrete help to donors, aid groups, NGOs and governments.”

Further Information The Copenhagen Consensus Center is a think-tank based at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. Its goal is to promote the use of sound economic science in public policy development. The Center’s Director is Dr Bjorn Lomborg, author of Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool It. For more information, please visit the website www.copenhagenconsensus.com

Contact Details Anita Overholt Nielsen +45 3815 2259 aon.ccc@cbs.dk