Nutrition International worked with the government and other partners to deliver micronutrient supplements, fortified staple foods, and improved health and nutrition services, especially for women, children and girls. Some key highlights from this year include:

• Provided technical assistance to the government to develop the national policy on adolescent nutrition and planning to initiate a scaled-up weekly iron folic acid supplementation program through in-school and community-based platforms.
• Successfully advocated for the purchase and distribution of 45 million iron folic acid supplements to remedy supply gaps identified in some districts.
• Conducted rapid situation assessment of approximately 5,000 community clinics to determine the impact of the pandemic on service delivery of antenatal care and iron folic acid. Provided advice and guidance on adaptions directly to healthcare workers through more than 16,000 telephone calls. Virtually monitored health facilities in all 26 districts and two city corporations.

Nutrition International worked with government and other partners to improve the nutritional status of women, girls and children through affordable and innovative programs and interventions. Some key highlights from this year include:

• Provided technical assistance to the Ethiopia Food and Drug Administration to update monitoring and inspection tools following the revision of salt standards. Trained 55 food inspectors and their supervisors, focusing on iodine deficiency disorders through the universal salt iodization program, the national edible salt standard, and iodized salt inspection across the salt value chain.
• Ensured safer pregnancies and healthier babies for over 58,500 additional pregnant women by providing 90 or more iron folic acid tablets during their pregnancy.
• Provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Health to develop pre-service training quality assurance plan and ensured this included a child health illness management protocol in the Certification of Competency of health providers.
• Supported the national government’s increase in coverage of zinc and low-osmolarity oral rehydration salt treatment in 88 new woredas.

Through key interventions, such as vitamin A supplementation, fortified salt, and iron and folic acid supplementation, Nutrition International helped to improve the health and nutrition of women, children and adolescent girls. Some key highlights from this year include:

• Established a Centre of Excellence for maternal and newborn care at the Chandauli District hospital in Uttar Pradesh.
• Conducted a health economic analysis that showed that 94 million anaemia case-years could be averted, and 284,000 disability-adjusted life years could be saved, through the fortification of rice in different SSNPs – which could reach 235 million women. In addition to the health benefits, this would translate into CAD 1.4 billion in savings to the health system over five years. The results of this analysis were used by the national government in the process that led its decision to make it mandatory for all rice provided through SSNPs to be fortified by 2024.Supported three states to conduct two rounds of vitamin A supplementation – covering 26.8 million children despite the constraints caused by COVID-19. This represents an additional 14.4 million children who will be better protected from preventable diseases and blindness.

Alongside the government, Nutrition International supported the development and implementation of nutrition interventions including VAS, fortified wheat flour, iodized salt, and iron folic acid supplementation. Some key highlights from this year include:

• Protected 1.3 million newborns from iodine deficiency disorders by ensuring the adequate iodine status of their mothers through the USI program.
• Delivered two doses of vitamin A to an additional 3.4 million children, protecting them from preventable diseases and blindness.
• Trained 265 frontline health workers on WIFAS with gender-responsive nutrition education components as part of the Better Investment for Stunting Alleviation (BISA) project funded by the Power of Nutrition and in partnership with Save the Children.

Nutrition International worked with national and sub-national governments to support research, policy development and the implementation of low-cost, high-impact interventions. Some key highlights from this year include:

• Launched performance-based, matched funding agreements with four counties, designed to leverage verifiable increases in domestic funding for high-impact nutrition interventions. Each of the counties will be contributing Ksh 36 million against Nutrition International’s contribution of Ksh 30 million for three years .
• Provided technical assistance for the development of 11 county nutrition action plans, which are subnational plans with low-cost, high-impact priority nutrition activities.
• Provided technical assistance for the development of county nutrition profiles and nutrition investment cases for advocacy efforts with governors and departments of finance at the county-level to ensure the local plans were funded.

Along with our partners, Nutrition International supported the government to ensure lifesaving and life-enhancing nutrition programming was available and accessible for those who needed it most. Some key highlights from this year include:

• Conducted a study to update our behaviour change intervention strategy. Along with our partners, conducted a desk review and qualitative inquiry to explore pregnant women’s (including pregnant adolescents) and their influencers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices on antenatal care attendance and the consumption of iron folic acid supplements, as well as the gender and social norms facilitating or inhibiting desired behaviours. The findings are being used to update the strategy for iron folic acid supplementation in the target states.
• Procured and donated 40,000 co-packs of zinc and oral rehydration salts to Sokoto which was sufficient to treat 40,000 episodes of diarrhoea in children.
• In collaboration with UNICEF, and with permission from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, trained all 37 state nutrition officers in the country on the GAVA operational guide for administration of vitamin A supplementation in the context of COVID-19, which resulted in a nationwide standardized approach for service delivery during the pandemic.

Together with national and provincial governments, Nutrition International focused on improving access to much needed micronutrients through supplementation and fortification to improve the health of women and children. Some key highlights from this year include:

• Provided five thousand bottles of hand sanitizer and 144,000 masks to 4,000 frontline health workers and health care providers to facilitate their work and keep them safe during the COVID-19 pandemic and to sustain momentum for services in the field.
• Translated three COVID-19 training modules into Urdu for localization and distributed to teachers, lady health workers and peer educators.
• Elected as co-chair of Pakistan’s Nutrition Development Partners Forum. In this role we led the development of a policy brief, entitled “Nutrition in the COVID-19 context and beyond,” prioritizing nutrition in the government’s COVID-19 response, recovery and resilience plans.

Nutrition International worked with the government to strengthen the country’s health and nutrition programs, build the capacity of health workers, and improve nutrition, health and survival of women, girls and children. Some key highlights from this year include:

• Enhanced gender-sensitive nutrition education guides and job aids with COVID-19-related messages for pregnant and lactating women, exclusive breastfeeding, and infant and young child nutrition covering the first 1,000 days initiative.
• Advocated for the inclusion of nutrition as part of the ongoing COVID-19 emergency response, recovery, and rehabilitation efforts of Local Government Units, and the integration of the first 1,000 days in their sectoral plans and programs to improve nutrition and prioritize initiatives for households with nutritionally vulnerable members, such as pregnant and lactating mothers, children up to two years old, and the elderly. Examples of such initiatives included the distribution of COVID-19 emergency food and cash (“ayuda’) relief packages, the inclusion of first 1,000 days population in the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s social safety net programs and distribution of nutritious food packs.
• Scaled-up the first 1,000 days program in 14 municipalities, which translated to approximately a 5% increase in coverage to 846 barangays.

Nutrition International worked with government and partners in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to improve the lives of women and children through research, policy formulation and integrated nutrition programming. Some key highlights from this year include:

• Over 15 million additional people reached with adequately iodized salt in Senegal and salt-importing countries, which included almost 3.72 million women of reproductive age, and 531,000 newborns who were protected from iodine deficiency disorders by ensuring the adequate iodine status of their mothers.
• Provided at least 907,494 children with two doses of vitamin A in all regions of the country, 225,150 of whom were estimated as being an increase from previous campaigns, helping to protect them from preventable diseases and blindness.
• 97,000 people reached on social media platforms with a behaviour change initiative digital campaign on the impact of COVID-19 on school platforms and the prevention of COVID-19 in school settings.

Guided by the country’s National Multisectoral Nutrition Action Plan, Nutrition International worked with government to improve the health and nutrition of the population, particularly women, adolescent girls and children. Some key highlights from this year include:

• Provided technical guidance and support to the Prime Minister’s Office to facilitate the development of the micronutrient component of the National Multisectoral Nutrition Action Plan (II). This included overseeing the development of the Micronutrient Thematic Area and the Common Results, Resources, and Accountability Framework..
• Provided technical and financial support to the monitoring and supportive supervision of 1,632 targeted health facilities in 51 councils to ensure continued appropriate service provision, recording and reporting of vitamin A supplementation to children.
• Provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture to develop the national biofortification guidelines.