This review of nutrition and mortality indicators was carried out for the specific use by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) tool, applied and developed by the IPC Global Partnership programme. The UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN) Task Force on Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation (TF/AME) supervised the conduct of the review

at the request of the Technical Working Group of the IPC Global Partnership. Funding was obtained through UNICEF from the Inter‐Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Nutrition Cluster and from ECHO as one of the key donors of the IPC programme. Conducted by Helen Young of the Feinstein International Centre, Tufts University, and Susan Jaspars from the Overseas Development Institution (ODI), the review benefited from a broad based two‐day technical consultation in Rome in July 2009, attended by 33 experts

representing 18 agencies and institutions.

A draft technical paper was used as a background document for the consultation, which included health and nutrition experts, agricultural and

socio‐economists and practitioners of the IPC tool.

During the consultation, the properties and purpose of nutrition and mortality indicators were reviewed in the specific context of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which looks at relative severity of food insecurity through a series of indicators, backed‐up by an in‐depth analysis of factors that influence the food security and nutrition situation.

The review incorporates the outcomes of the consultation with a thorough examination of past studies and reports.

Apart from providing guidance to IPC practitioners on the significance and use of nutrition and mortality indicators for the classification of food security, the conclusions from the

consultation and the study itself provide a very rich basis for further work, including in strengthening linkages between food security and nutrition analysis and revisiting the

definition and interpretation of the reference levels of these indicators for the classification of the depth of food insecurity.