Standard Project Report 2016
included increasing agricultural productivity and maintaining food security. Myanmar ' s National Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition( 2011-2015) identified four strategic directions for addressing the immediate, underlying and basic causes of of malnutrition. The Plan identified the need for improved nutrient intake and reducing diseases, improved mother and child care practices, access to health services, institutional and human capacity, and advocacy for investments in food and health-based interventions. The National Social Protection Strategic Plan( 2014-2024), which is aligned with the National Comprehensive Development Plan( 2010-2030), aims at inclusive, equitable and sustainable approaches to poverty alleviation, disaster risk reduction and food insecurity. It is consistent with Myanmar ' s global commitments to the Zero Hunger Challenge, Scaling Up Nutrition( SUN) movement and Sustainable Development Goals( SDGs). The new Government of Myanmar is committed to addressing national development challenges, and commenced an extensive review of existing policies, plans and systems upon assuming power in April 2016. In order to strengthen national capacity and support the achievement of national priorities in education, food security, nutrition and health, WFP established a permanent liaison office in the capital, Naw Pyi Taw, in 2016.
In response to the national Zero Hunger Challenge, aligned with SDG 2 and SDG 17 [ 1 ], WFP intensified its advocacy efforts with the Government to promote a multi-sectoral high-level engagement toward nutrition and continued to support the development of Myanmar ' s National Action Plan for Food and Nutrition Security( 2016-2025). The plan, which is still under review by the Government, involved multi-sectoral collaboration with the Ministries of Health and Sports, Agriculture, Rural Development, Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Education, and Finance. It complemented the National Nutrition Agenda of the Ministry of Health and Sports, which addressed the multiple burdens of malnutrition. WFP particularly supported the national objective of reducing undernutrition among mothers and children under the age of five. WFP also provided technical support to the development of the rice fortification policy in cooperation with the National Nutrition Centre( NNC), non-governmental organization( NGO) PATH, and private businesses involved in rice fortification. WFP provided technical inputs for the Agriculture Development Strategy( 2016-2021) and the National Health Plan to be released in 2017.
The United Nations( UN) Network for Nutrition, started in 2015 with WFP, the Food and Agriculture Organization( FAO), United Nations Children ' s Fund( UNICEF), and World Health Organization( WHO), was expanded in 2016 to include United Nations Office for Project Services( UNOPS), UN Women, United Nations Population Fund( UNFPA) and United Nations Development Programme( UNDP). The UN network was chaired by WFP Country Director and supported by the Renewed Efforts against Child Hunger and Undernutrition( REACH) international and national facilitators, hosted by WFP. The REACH team facilitated the SUN multi-stakeholder platform in Myanmar to agree on 20 core nutrition actions and to plan for a high-level event to further advocate for nutrition. WFP and REACH also initiated discussions with PATH to set up the SUN Private Business Network for Myanmar.
UNICEF and WFP cooperated with NNC under the Ministry of Health and Sports to expand and strengthen integrated management of acute malnutrition( IMAM). This included support to the development of a national treatment protocol for IMAM, as well as rolling out training on IMAM to prioritised regions. NNC also rolled out training on infant and young child feeding practices( IYCF) and several UN and international NGO staff received training of trainers to roll out this training at the sub-national level. UNICEF and WFP provided one IYCF training for WFP and partners in Lashio, Shan State, to be continued in other locations in 2017. At the sub-national level, WFP, jointly with Action Contre la Faim( ACF) and UNICEF, developed a food security and nutrition strategy for the northern part of Rakhine State with the involvement of the Government, UN and NGOs working in the area. WFP provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and Sports by facilitating coordination meetings, training sessions for involved personnel from the National Tuberculosis Programme and the National AIDS Programme on nutrition assessment, counselling, behaviour change communication, food distribution, monitoring and evaluation and proper storage.
The National Social Protection Strategic Plan( 2014-2024) of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement laid out the national school feeding and public works among its eight flagship programmes. The national school feeding programme is also part of the National Education Sector Plan( 2016-2021) under the Ministry of Education, supporting at-risk students for equitable access to basic education and aiming to improve the country ' s low education indicators. In 2016, the Ministry of Education mobilised significant human and administrative resources which made the joint implementation of school feeding a success in the first year of official collaboration with WFP. However, a specific budget line has not yet been devoted to school feeding in the national budget and funding remained a major challenge to the expansion of the programme nationwide. As part of the Letter of Intent signed by WFP and the Ministry of Education in June 2015, WFP supported the Government in developing a school feeding policy and strengthening the capacity of key personnel in implementing the programme. WFP intensified its engagement with the Ministry of Education to develop government capacity to full implement school feeding, which included the joint development and approval of operational guidelines that define standard procedures for implementing the programme nationwide. Through intensive advocacy efforts, WFP introduced the School Feeding Systems Approach for Better Education Results( SF-SABER) process to assess the policy, institution and
Myanmar, Union of( MM) 5 Single Country PRRO- 200299