IIMSAM and IAPM Sign MoU to Advance Peace, SDGs

IIMSAM and I Am Peacekeeper Movement Sign Strategic MoU to Advance Global Peace and the Sustainable Development Goals

New Delhi, India’ 2026 – The Intergovernmental Institution for the Use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM) UN Asia and the I Am Peacekeeper Movement (IAPM) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a strategic partnership to advance peacebuilding, nutrition security and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The agreement, signed in Mumbai, was concluded by Dr. Huzaifa Khorakiwala, Founder of IAPM, and Dr. Sahil Singh, Ambassador for Strategic Partnerships and UN SDGs at IIMSAM.

The two organizations bring different things to the table. IAPM is a global movement built around peace, leadership and collaboration, drawing individuals and institutions together under a shared set of human values. IIMSAM is an intergovernmental body operating within the United Nations framework, with a far narrower, technical mandate: addressing malnutrition through the cultivation and distribution of spirulina, a nutrient-dense micro-algae. On paper, these are different worlds. In practice, the partnership rests on a simple premise, that the work of peace and the work of nutrition are not really separate undertakings at all.

A Shared Vision for Global Development

Malnutrition and conflict tend to get filed under different headings in policy discussions, handled by different institutions, different funding streams, different experts. But the conditions that produce one usually produce the other. Communities living through instability are almost always communities living with food insecurity, and the reverse holds too. Chronic malnutrition wears down the social and economic foundations that peace depends on. The MoU between IIMSAM and IAPM starts from this overlap rather than treating it as a coincidence.

IAPM has built itself as a convening platform, pulling in leaders from business, philanthropy and public life around ideas of justice, compassion and shared responsibility. IIMSAM's work is more technical and more narrowly focused, centered on nutrition security through spirulina-based programs, but it reaches directly into the lived conditions of vulnerable populations across several regions. One offers scale and a stage; the other offers a tested intervention. The MoU is essentially an attempt to wire the two together. According to the World Food Programme, conflict remains one of the largest drivers of global hunger.

Why Strategic Partnerships Matter

No single institution, however well resourced, addresses malnutrition, conflict and underdevelopment on its own. These problems are tangled together, and the institutions working on them have largely come around to the same conclusion, that progress depends on coordination rather than parallel effort. According to the United Nations, The growing number of cross-sector partnerships across the UN system, from joint UNICEF-WFP nutrition programmes to UNDP-led peacebuilding coalitions, reflects this same logic: humanitarian action, sustainable development and peacebuilding work best when pursued together, not as separate tracks.

The IIMSAM-IAPM agreement follows that same pattern, just at a smaller scale. Formalizing the relationship through an MoU, rather than leaving it as informal cooperation, gives both sides a framework for joint planning and shared accountability, the kind of structure that tends to make partnerships outlast their opening press cycle.

Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals

The partnership touches several of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by UN Member States in 2015, though not in equal measure. SDG 2, Zero Hunger, sits closest to IIMSAM's own mandate, given its long-standing focus on spirulina as a tool against malnutrition; the MoU effectively gives that work a new channel through IAPM's network and platforms. SDG 3, Good Health and Well-Being, follows naturally from the nutritional and public health dimensions of the planned programming. SDG 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, is closer to IAPM's founding purpose, and to the broader idea behind the MoU itself, that sustainable development cannot really take hold without stable, peaceful conditions underneath it. And SDG 17, Partnerships for the Goals, is reflected in the structure of the agreement, a reminder that institutional collaboration isn't a nice-to-have on the way to the other Goals, but a precondition for reaching them.

Areas of Collaboration

Under the terms of the MoU, IIMSAM and IAPM plan to jointly develop and implement initiatives across a handful of areas:

•        Combating malnutrition through scalable, on-the-ground programmes aligned with global development priorities;

•        Strengthening awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals among the constituencies each organization reaches;

•        Enabling cross-border collaboration between institutions, networks and individuals committed to peace and sustainable development;

•        Creating measurable impact across communities through joint programming rather than parallel, uncoordinated efforts.

The partnership is also expected to feed into upcoming convenings, including the Billionaires for Peace Conclave, an IAPM initiative set for the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai, on 21 May 2026, where global leaders, policymakers and changemakers are due to gather for dialogue on peace and sustainable development.

Leadership Perspectives

Speaking on the signing of the MoU, Dr. Huzaifa Khorakiwala stated: “This partnership reflects our shared commitment to building a more peaceful and sustainable world. By aligning with IIMSAM, we aim to further strengthen the impact of the I Am Peacekeeper Movement through global collaboration and actionable initiatives.” The collaboration was also covered by The Wire following the signing of the agreement.

Dr. Sahil Singh added: “Through this MoU, we look forward to working closely with IAPM to advance the SDGs and create scalable, impactful programs that contribute to global well-being and peace.”

Looking Ahead

The agreement sets out a framework rather than a fixed list of deliverables, leaving room for the partnership to take shape as joint programming gets built out. Both sides have signaled an intention to use the MoU as a starting point for ongoing work, including knowledge sharing between IIMSAM's nutrition-focused teams and IAPM's convening platforms. The Billionaires for Peace Conclave, held a month after the signing, will be an early test of whether the partnership's stated priorities turn into public dialogue, and perhaps further commitments from the institutions and individuals in the room.

For both organizations, the real value of the partnership probably isn't in any single initiative. It's in the precedent it sets, that institutions working on nutrition security and institutions working on peacebuilding have good reason to coordinate, share resources, and align their respective agendas around common ground.

Conclusion

The Sustainable Development Goals were designed as a single, integrated agenda, on the understanding that progress in one area depends on progress in others. The MoU between IIMSAM and IAPM is a small but concrete expression of that idea, joining a nutrition-focused intergovernmental institution with a peace-focused global movement around a shared set of objectives. What happens next, as both organizations move from agreement to implementation, will say a good deal about how cross-sector collaboration, now central to much of the UN system's work, holds up in practice.

The Wire, “I Am Peacekeeper Movement (IAPM) Signs Strategic MoU with IIMSAM UN Asia to Advance Global Peace and Sustainable Development Goals,” 21 April 2026. https://thewire.in/ptiprnews/i-am-peacekeeper-movement-iapm-signs-strategic-mou-with-iimsam-un-asia-to-advance-global-peace-and-sustainable-development-goals

I Am Peacekeeper Movement, official website. https://www.i-am-peacekeeper.com/

United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals. https://sdgs.un.org/goals

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