Our efforts ensure that nutrition programs are evidence-based, centered on improving lives and focused on the areas with the greatest potential for impact. In 2023, we implemented technical assistance projects in support of six national governments in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Timor-Leste, Cambodia and the Philippines, as well as three major development banks and two regional economic communities.
In Ethiopia, a high-level Nutrition International team is leading the Federal Program Delivery Unit’s implementation of the Seqota Declaration. Additionally, we implemented a test case for gender-responsive technical assistance by mainstreaming gender activities into the Seqota Declaration’s ongoing delivery. In Timor-Leste, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the Stunting Reduction Unit to support their efforts to address stunting. In the initial phase, Nutrition International provided guidance on the unit’s organizational structure and will support the development of a national nutrition action tracking mechanism.
Continuing our collaboration with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asian Development Bank’s Nutrition Technical Working Group, we conducted an initial landscape review of nutrition-sensitive social protection in Asia to provide an evidence base for engagements on areas of support required in the region. A similar landscape in East Africa was conducted in partnership with the Southern African Development Community.
We also commenced implementation of Phase 3 of the Banking on Nutrition partnership project, funded by Big Win Philanthropy and the Aliko Dangote Foundation. Phase 3 will increase the demand for nutrition-smart investments by the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) clients, governments of high-burden regional member countries and businesses, while simultaneously enhancing the AfDB’s capabilities to respond to that demand with the right supply of technical capacity.
Nutrition International also successfully established a new relationship with the World Bank’s Nigeria country office and is providing technical assistance for identifying opportunities for integrating nutrition into projects and developing practical tools the Bank needs to make its portfolio nutrition smart on an ongoing basis.
