Introduction: Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in public health have been widely promoted as an effective tool for accelerating progress toward achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 2 “to eliminate hunger.” At the global level, partnership with the private sector was found to be very instrumental in improving the nutritional status of poor and food-insecure people, promoting healthy lifestyle, and developing initiatives to prevent childhood obesity. In countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), PPPs in nutrition actions has been mainly driven by UN and International development agencies to support low and middle -income countries in achieving better health outcomes. Despite the increased prominence of engaging the private sector in public health actions in countries of the EMR, the evidence on the role of the private sector in the design/implementation of these actions is still not documented.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to assess the role and contribution of the private sector in the design/ implementation of nutrition- specific interventions addressing the double burden of malnutrition in countries from the EMR and identifying the key factors for successful PPP implementation.

Methods: The study design was descriptive using secondary data obtained from digital internet sources, including WHO databases, grey literature, and websites of UN and International development agencies. 

Results: The desk review revealed that the private sector has played a sizable role in the implementation of food fortification initiatives and in the implementation of nutritional policies promoting healthy diets. The experience of the Region shows the significant impact of government commitment, and the availability of national policies and systems for monitoring and enforcement on the sustainability and effectiveness of PPPs specific nutrition interventions.

Conclusion: The study emphasizes the key actions recommended for the governments to enhance the application of PPPs as a tool to accelerate the EMR countries’ progress toward achieving the nutrition targets under SDG 2 by 2030.

The data on the role /contribution of the private sector, and the challenges encountered in the implementation of specific nutrition interventions across EMR countries was collated through a comprehensive literature review from various sources, including WHO databases, grey literature, specific reports on nutrition actions published by WHO and other UN agencies and websites of UN and International development agencies.

The WHO e-library of Evidence for Nutrition Actions (eLENA), and the WHO Global database on the implementation of nutrition actions (GINA), was used as the main reference to build the initial list of nutrition policies, strategies, and actions for each of the 22 EMR countries.

The initial list was then narrowed down to include only specific nutrition actions/ interventions that were implemented in partnership with at least one private for-profit organization.