Nutrition convergence support to LAO/030 target provinces
Lao PDR has the lowest levels of nutrition indicators in South-East Asia. Chronic malnutrition stands at 33 percent. The Lao Government has recognized the severity of the problem and adopted a comprehensive, multi-sector National Nutrition Strategy 2015-25. However, limited coordination amongst nutrition actors is still challenging nutrition scale-up throughout the country. Improving the coordination among actors working in health, agriculture, education and planning at different governance levels is therefore crucial to create a robust nutrition planning and information management system
Objective:
The NCS project aims to strengthen the coordination and capacity of provincial authorities, development partners and Lao civil societies in reducing malnutrition in Bolikhamxay and Vientiane provinces
Expected results:
Result 1:Improved capacities of Provincial Nutrition Secretariats’ members
The project focuses on supporting capacity building and functioning of two Provincial Nutrition Committees’ Secretariats (PNS) composed of members from 4 public sectors: Education, Agriculture and Forestry, Planning and Investment and Health. PNS have been set-up with the mission to facilitate multi-sectoral coordination within their provinces and provide the necessary leadership to their districts on nutrition planning and management. At the beginning of the project, a mapping of Lao Civil Society Organizations active in the province was implemented and revealed no LCSOs working in the target area. The needs of PNS were then assessed and PNS members trained on the 3 main topics identified (nutrition planning and monitoring, Training of Trainers skills and LANN tool). In turn, PNS members are now able to train 18 DNS on the same topics. Through the trainings, PNS and DNS increased knowledge on the 22 priority nutrition interventions across health, agriculture and education and are able to integrate them in their sectorial planning
Result 2: Strengthened governance for malnutrition reduction
The regular functioning of PNS is supported by the organization of quarterly meetings, where PNS members finalize their quarterly nutrition report, which consolidates information on nutrition interventions across sectors. The 2 PNS also bring regular support to 18 DNS through quarterly support visits. With the support of NCS project, DNS organize quarterly meetings where their reports are consolidated before being shared with PNS for review. The project implementation focuses on the elaboration of the Provincial Nutrition Strategies in each province, as well as Nutrition Action Plans, based on the National Nutrition Action Plan 2021-2025. Finally, coordination with national level is ensured through regular support visits of the NNC and the participation of the PNS to high level nutrition meetings. Interprovincial field exchange visits also allow the PNS members to exchange experiences with PNS from other provinces and increase their capacities for nutrition governance
Project key information:
Duration: 44 months, from February 2019 until September 2022;
Target beneficiaries: two Provincial Nutrition Secretariats (PNS) of Bolikhamxay and Vientiane Provinces, for a total of 26 PNS members.
Target area: Bolikhamxay and Vientiane Provinces
Project funded by:
