Women in Health Innovation Spotlight: Nora Hobbs
Nora Hobbs is the World Food Programme’s Regional Nutrition Advisor for the Asia Pacific area, where she provides strategic and technical leadership surrounding nutrition outcomes. She has been a part of the World Food Programme (WFP) since 2011, a first responder program to emergencies caused by conflict and disasters. The WFP provides food, cash and other assistance to millions of people left in urgent need and at risk of going hungry.
Ms. Hobbs has researched and co-authored studies on nutritional deficiencies across sex and age, actions to take to address the high costs of nutritional diets in Africa’s drylands, and more. She studied Human Nutrition at the Institut Limayrac in Toulouse, France and completed her master’s degree in Global Health and International Public Health at the KIT Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam. She is currently based in Bangkok, Thailand.
1. What first inspired you to work in global nutrition and humanitarian response? What got you involved with the World Food Programme? How has your work evolved throughout your career?
I’ve always been interested in science and how science can improve populations well-being. With the World Food Programme, I experienced how good nutrition can change lives, especially in places where people are facing tough situations. I joined the World Food Programme back in 2011 because I wanted to be part of something that makes a real difference and give hope for the future. Over time, my role has shifted from being more hands-on in the field to helping shape larger strategies across the Asia Pacific region.
2. What are the biggest nutrition challenges, including gender gap, currently facing the Asia Pacific region? What steps are the WFP taking to address them?
There’s a wide range of nutrition issues here - from undernutrition to rising obesity. East Asia hosts a rapidly growing burden of overweight and obesity, while Bangladesh and India host some of the highest number of children and women affected by undernutrition. All forms of malnutrition are closely linked to inadequate diets and nutrient intake. One big challenge is that women and girls are the individuals with the highest nutritional needs due to their role in giving birth, but they are also the ones who are the least prioritised when it comes to sharing nutritious foods in a family. They eat last and least. On top of that, things like climate change and rising food prices make it even harder for families to afford healthy diets.
3. How do you work with governments and nonprofits at the UN with such diverse policies and cultures? Is the Asia Pacific unique in any way?
It definitely takes a lot of passion, commitment, and respect for different ways of doing things. I work closely with partners to find common ground and build on what’s already working locally. Asia Pacific is incredibly diverse, which makes the work both challenging and exciting—you really have to tailor your approach to each country’s unique context. For example, policy development in Sri Lanka requires very rigorous evidence-generation and partnerships with credible academia, whereas in Laos, the Government may not have technical experts in nutrition and requires national capacity strengthening at every step of policy development.
4. What advice would you give to someone entering the field of international public health nutrition today?
Be open-minded and patient to absorb the complexity of the topic and understand how it plays out around the globe in different cultures. In Asia, rice is front and center to food culture, improving nutrition has to involve organisations that have deep knowledge of rice-related issues and opportunities. Be ready to work and learn from established experts in the sector. Nutrition is a very broad development issue; listen to multi-disciplinary experts to complete your perspective. And be yourself! It helps to be both practical and creative. We constantly need to innovate to adapt to new challenges and increase impact.
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