In Bangladesh, ongoing political tensions and persistent inflation have posed significant challenges. Despite these difficulties, we continued to support the government and other partners to deliver micronutrient supplements, adequately fortified staple foods and improved health and nutrition services, with a particular focus on women, children and girls.

• 410,114 adolescent girls, aged 10 to 19 years, consumed the full scheme of weekly iron and folic acid supplementation in 10 districts through Nutrition International’s partnership with the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education.
• 328,411 flash cards were distributed to healthcare providers to help educate pregnant mothers on different fetal development milestones and the importance of consuming iron and folic acid tablets for improving birth outcomes.
• 7,042 health personnel, including 450 healthcare providers and 6,592 frontline workers across 16 districts, received training on the National Vitamin A Plus (NVAC) eLearning application, equipping them with essential information to strengthen the quality of the national vitamin A campaign.

Ethiopia is facing multiple crises, including recurrent droughts and floods, ongoing conflicts and economic difficulties, all of which have led to more than 20 million people requiring food assistance. We are collaborating with the government and other partners to enhance primary care and nutrition services, particularly for adolescent girls, women and children.

• 474,569 in-school adolescents aged 10 to 19 years — including 319,757 girls and 154,812 boys — received gender-responsive nutrition education. Additionally, 285 girls clubs have established partnership platforms in collaboration with their primary healthcare units and the school community to advance gender-transformative adolescent nutrition programming.
• The Vitamin A Next Schedule Tracking Tool pilot study was completed across 36 health posts in nine Nutrition International-supported areas. The endline assessment revealed that 90% of children in these areas received their vitamin A supplementation dose within the recommended six-month interval. Health workers also reported that the tool was instrumental in ensuring timely supplementation and reducing the number of missed doses.
• 272,613 diarrhoea episodes in children under five were treated with zinc and low osmolarity oral rehydration salts across 78 Nutrition International supported woredas, representing a 94% compliance with national protocols.

In India, we continued to work alongside government ministries and partners to deliver essential nutrition interventions to address the country’s nutrition challenges and improve the health of the entire population, especially women, girls and children.

• Nutrition International signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Food and Supplies, Government of West Bengal, for technical assistance to strengthen the country’s rice fortification program.
• 4,768 frontline workers, managers and pharmacists received training on the delivery, management and implementation of the maternal and newborn health and nutrition program. Additionally, 4,596 women — including newly married, pregnant and lactating women — benefitted from behaviour change messages delivered through the ANIKA (Anaemia and Nutrition Information and Knowledge Accelerator) bot, a WhatsApp-based chatbot developed by Nutrition International.
• Nutrition International supported Kishor Swasthya Manch, India’s adolescent health platform, by organizing sessions for adolescent girls and boys in 20 districts of Uttar Pradesh. The sessions offered key health and nutrition counselling and information tailored to adolescents through a mentor-based approach. Recognized as a success by the state government, the platform has been adopted for continued implementation at scale across the state.

We work closely with the government to ensure that nutrition policies are properly enforced and support the development and implementation of nutrition interventions to improve the nutritional status of the population.

• 261,000,000 additional people had access to adequately fortified wheat flour in areas served by Nutrition International-supported wheat flour mills.
• Based on our recommendation, the Health Development Policy Agency of the Ministry of Health integrated a serum retinol survey into the Indonesia Health Survey and conducted biomarker data collection in 2023. We are currently analyzing the data and will convene a group of vitamin A deficiency experts to review the findings and develop policy recommendations for advancing vitamin A supplementation programming in Indonesia.
• Nine salt processors received technical and financial support from Nutrition International to upgrade their technology to increase the production of fortified salt.

We are working with national and county governments to strengthen policies, support research and increase investments for nutrition programming. Our focus is on implementing low-cost, high-impact nutrition interventions to ensure that the population — particularly women, girls and children — have access to the nutrition they need.

• 2,712,100 people across 11 counties were reached with behaviour change intervention messages on diarrhoea management using zinc and low osmolarity oral rehydration salts through radio, print media and group counselling sessions.
• We provided technical and financial support to strengthen the operationalization of the Grain Mill Owners Association, an umbrella body consisting of seven maize millers associations. Our assistance included supporting the development of a strategic plan to improve self regulation and strengthen engagement with the government and other development partners in the food fortification space.
• 257,213 newborns were initiated on breastfeeding within one hour after birth, representing 68.6% of live births in 11 Nutrition International-supported counties.

In Nigeria, ongoing conflict, particularly in the northern regions, severely impacted food security and access to healthcare services. In collaboration with our partners, we continued to support the government to deliver quality nutrition programs to improve the health, development and productivity of the population.

• 208,165 diarrhoea episodes in children under five were treated with zinc and low osmolarity oral rehydration salts.
• In collaboration with the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, we designed and implemented hard-to-reach strategies in Katsina and Cross River states using tailored approaches to ensure that all children will be reached with two doses of vitamin A supplementation (VAS) each year. As a result, an additional 498,150 children under five in Katsina were reached with two doses of VAS, while 85,374 more children under five were reached in Cross River.
• Nutrition International, in partnership with UNICEF, provided and distributed 26,499,800 iron and folic acid (IFA) tablets to public health facilities in Katsina and Sokoto states. The supplies were expected to reach 346,333 pregnant women in the target states with a 90-day supply of IFA supplements.

Instability in regions such as Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa led to delays in project implementation and impacted the delivery of health services, and access to healthcare facilities. Together with the government and global partners, we are working to improve access to micronutrients to enhance the health of women, girls and children.

• 290,299 additional metric tonnes of adequately iodized salt were produced by salt processors.
• Building on the success of our weekly iron and folic acid (WIFAS) pilot project in Lodhran, we secured a CAD $2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Through this grant, we will lead the procurement and evaluation of an innovative adolescent nutrition program, in collaboration with the Benazir Income Support program, which aims to reach adolescent girls with WIFAS and nutrition education through a conditional cash transfer program.
• 37,390 pregnant women received at least one 100-count bottle of MMS tablets in Swabi district.

We work with governments and partners to improve women’s and children’s nutrition in Senegal and the high-burden countries of the Sahel.

• 195,793 adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 years received the recommended scheme of weekly iron and folic acid supplementation.
• 119,418 metric tonnes, the equivalent to 23.8% of all salt produced in the country, were adequately iodized with Nutrition International’s support, reaching an estimated 19,729,966 people.
• 738 health workers, including 398 women and 342 men, were trained to use the new vitamin A supplementation micro-planning template and self monitoring tool, enabling existing platforms at the local level to reach more children.

Guided by the country’s National Multisectoral Nutrition Action Plan, we support the government to improve policies and deliver quality programs to ensure the right nutrition gets to those in need particularly women, adolescent girls and children.

• Over 32,000,000 people were reached with adequately iodized salt due to Nutrition International’s support.
• Nutrition International facilitated reflection meetings in 17 councils, where 404 health workers assessed the performance of vitamin A supplementation delivered through Child Health and Nutrition Months and developed micro-plans for enhanced implementation during future campaigns.
• 570,222 pregnant women attended at least one antenatal care (ANC) visit in Nutrition International-supported areas, while approximately 95% of all women attending ANC received IFA supplementation.