UNITLIFE launches its online event series

Last Week UNITLIFE held its first online event: “UNITLIFE Presents: Talking about nutrition”.

On October 20th, UNITLIFE celebrated International Chefs Day by holding an online event with Chef Pierre Thiam to discuss the importance of good nutrition as a cornerstone of a healthy and prosperous life and as a means to empower vulnerable communities.

International Chefs Day began as an initiative to include Chefs in the global discussion on food and nutrition. On International Chefs Day, the global Chefs’ community shares their passion for cooking to educate children and people around the world on the importance of healthy eating.

Chef Pierre Thiam, an award-winning chef, author and social entrepreneur, has always had a special interest in nutrition. Throughout his career, Chef Thiam has researched the nutritional benefits of African-grown ingredients like fonio - a drought-resistant cereal - that has been a treasured source of food across West Africa for generations. Together with African superstar Masta Just, from the critically acclaimed music group Toofan, he participated in UNITLIFE's first online event discussing nutrition and the consequences of chronic malnutrition on communities in Africa. Assia Sidibe, Director of the UNITLIFE Secretariat, discussed the importance of increasing public awareness through the event, saying “Chronic malnutrition is a complicated disease that is due to a variety of complex factors. Therefore, it is mostly discussed by experts and remains little known outside the nutrition and food development sectors. For this first event, we wanted to bring another voice to the discussion.”

Chef Thiam and Masta Just gave first-hand testimonials on the challenges being met in West-Africa to access good nutrition. They both shared their own experiences, with Masta Just mentioning the increased difficulties to access food in the rural areas and the importance of educating the population on good nutrition and its critical benefits to the healthy development of children. At the end of the event, viewers were able to compete in a short quiz on chronic malnutrition to win a private cooking lesson with Chef Thiam.

UNITLIFE was thrilled by the success of this first event! We know it was short, but this is just the beginning. Stay tuned and follow UNITLIFE on social media to see all the future events we have planned.

In the meantime, you can rewatch our International Chefs Day event here.