UNITED FOR NUTRITIONThe UN Joint programme to support the national multi-sectoral

scale-up of nutrition actions in Rwanda

ICN2 UN Side Event

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COUNTRY CONTEXT

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COUNTRY CONTEXTSize: 26,338 sq km

Population: 10.5 million

Life expectancy: 64 years

Pop. Growth rate(2002-12): 2.6%

GNI per capita: $560

Divisions: 30 Administrative Districts

Languages: English, French and Kinyarwanda

Republic headed by a democratically elected President

EquityPoverty

Gini co-efficient

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00

2005/6 2010/11

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

2005/6 2010/11

Source: EICV 3

5

24.3

20.3 18

11.4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1992*

DHS

2000*

DHS

2005*

DHS

2010

DHS

MDG target

(2015)

14.5%

Achieved!

National Target (by 2018):

24.5%

Below 5%

wasting -

WHO

standard

Stunting remains alarmingly high

Stunting increases considerably by age and has a

significantly high prevalence in rural areas

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16.7 18.9

25.6

42.5

55.1 51.8 50.9

46

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

<6 6-8 9-11 12- 17 18 -23 24-35 36-47 48-59

Stunting prevalence by age group

(national)

Food Security Situation Map (CFSVA 2012)

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Underlying causes at

household / family level

Inadequate

dietary intakeDisease

Insufficient

access to FOOD

Immediate causes

Basic causes at societal

level

Tackling malnutrition requires an integrated approach

addressing food, health, and care issues in concert with the

basic causes

Outcomes

Inadequate

maternal & child

CARE practices

Source: Adapted from UNICEF

Poor water, sanitation & inadequate

HEALTH services

Malnutrition,

death & disability

Quantity and quality of actual resources – human, economic & organisational

- and the way they are controlled

Potential resources: environment, technology, people

JOINT EFFORTS TO FIGHT

MALNUTRITION IN RWANDA

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Government Efforts to Eliminate

Malnutrition in Rwanda

� National Nutrition Policy (2007)

� President’s Initiative to Eliminate Malnutrition (2009)

� Nutrition summits – every 2 years starting in 2009

� National Multisectoral Strategy to Eliminate Malnutrition (2010-2013)

� Multisectoral coordination

� National Food and Nutrition Policy and Strategy (2013-2018)

� “Thousand Days Campaign”

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How the UN in Rwanda came together to

jointly support the fight against malnutrition

� Alignment within the UN system - One UN Country – UN delivering as one,

UN Development Assistance Plan (2013-2018)

� Alignment with government priorities and programmes to combat

malnutrition – Presidential Initiative (2009), Development of EDPRS 2

(malnutrition as a priority challenge) Nutrition policies, strategies and plans

(2010, 2013), and 1000 Days campaign (2013)

� REACH Initiative (2011) - 4 UN agencies working together under a common

framework, and a coordinating mechanism to align and pool resources and

expertise � UNICEF - Infant and Young Child Feeding, micronutrient fortification, nutrition security in emergencies,

Nutrition and HIV/AIDS, Wash, Early childhood Education, social protection

� WFP – logistics, food distribution, food and nutrition security analysis, and school feeding

� FAO – Food security- increasing agricultural productivity, markets, consumption of nutritious and safe

foods

� WHO- Guidance and advocacy on population dietary goals and evidence informed policies and

programmes, monitoring and surveillance

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UN Support to Elimination of Stunting

� UN nutrition programmes at decentralized level (Total: 18 districts)

� Accelerating the Reduction of Stunting among under Two Children in Rwanda

� One UN Joint Nutrition Project “Effectively Fighting Chronic Malnutrition in two Districts of

Rwanda

� Objectives

� Provide and use evidence in programme design and implementation

� Targeted to pregnant/lactating women, and children under two years of age from the

most vulnerable households

� Aligned with the Rwanda Government’s “Thousand Days Campaign”

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The UN not only provide support at national level, but most importantly

at districts with high levels of stunting

UN support to Elimination of Stunting

� Increasing stakeholders’ awareness and consensus on nutrition situation

and priorities

� Nutrition stakeholder mapping, nutrition summits, food security and nutrition

analyses, support to DHS

� Strengthening National Nutrition Policies and District Plans

� Review and updating of National Nutrition Policy and Strategy, sector plans

and district plans to eliminate malnutrition

� Strengthening multisectoral coordination for nutrition

� Technical assistance for planning, monitoring and multisectoral coordination

� Capacity building for prevention and management of malnutrition

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� Strengthening M&E for tracking implementation of nutrition actions

� Rapid SMS tracking 1000 days

� Nutrition Surveillance

� Integrated Food Security Phase Classification

� DevInfo for tracking implementation of Districts Plans to Eliminate Malnutrition

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UN support to Elimination of Stunting

Partnerships and funding

� Donors play a critical role in national efforts to reduce

malnutrition

� Over US$ 30 million has been mobilized by the UN (REACH

agencies) since 2012 from various donors

� Partnerships with Non Government Organizations (int’l and

national and Field base) – for implementation at decentralized

levels

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“ Game Changers”

� A high level of political

commitment

� Strong resource mobilization

� Implementation of District

Plans to Eliminate Malnutrition

� Nutrition tracking (real time

monitoring / decision making)

� Multisectoral approach

� Multisectoral coordination

mechanisms

� “Thousand Days Campaign”

Challenges and Lessons learned

� Working together as One UN improved donors confidence, hence funding

for joint nutrition programme

� Harmonization with the Government planning process (aligning UNDAP to

EDPRS II) has improved identification of priority actions amongst UN

agencies

� The current UN multisectoral nutrition actions need to be expanded to

include other essential actions such as hygiene and sanitation (e.g. Wash

programme), Early Childhood Education, and social protection

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United Nations Rwanda

12 Avenue de l’Armée P.O BOX 445, Kigali, Rwanda

Phone: +250 590 403 / Fax: +250 576 263

Email: rcorwanda@one.un.org

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