The five-year programme consists of three pillars:
This includes a broad package of interventions aimed at improving overall foetal and child nutrition and development. Nutrition-specific interventions include adolescent and maternal dietary supplementation, treatment of severe acute malnutrition, disease prevention and management and nutrition interventions in emergency situations. These will be complemented by nutrition-sensitive interventions such as robust early child development programming, improvement to water and sanitation practices and enhanced access to family planning services.
We’re aiming to enhance the ability of primary and secondary health care workers to deliver better quality reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services. This includes provision of improved equipment as well as training to health workers in a diverse range of areas including therapeutic feeding, non-communicable diseases, mental health, and emergency care. There is also a strong focus on enhancing healthcare worker’s monitoring and evaluation and financial reporting capabilities. It aims to improve the quality of services and increase coverage of the interventions included under the first component.
We’re aiming to support the creation of a nutrition-enabling environment by providing technical assistance to the Food and Nutrition Coordination Office as it develops an integrated and efficient multisectoral programme for nutrition. This assistance will help the Government of Lesotho plan and co-ordinate the programme from the national level to district and community level. Technical assistance will also be provided for the development and implementation of policies and guidelines, as well as government monitoring and evaluation capabilities, to ensure ongoing rigorous reporting and sustained progress. Additional support through an NGO will coordinate the implementation of community-based activities.
We’re aiming to increase the use and quality of key nutrition and health services as well as improve selected nutrition behaviours which are known to reduce stunting. By increasing coverage at both a facility and community level, alongside stronger governance of health and nutrition, the programme will provide significant support to the Government of Lesotho as it seeks reduce malnutrition and improve health outcomes, particularly among lower-income households.
Success will be measured through improvements in the nutritional status of pregnant women and children under 5, relative to current data, across indicators such as minimum dietary diversity, anaemia, number of antenatal care visits and other relevant outcomes. Other more systematic indicators include the number of hospitals with necessary basic equipment and number of villages providing the correct package of health promoting services.
