Commitment

Context-specific nutrition policies and treatment protocols covering the prevention and treatment of wasting integrated within the health system.

Multilateral organisation / Switzerland

Description

Formation of a global advisory group (co-chaired by WHO and UNICEF) to consult on the development of global policy briefs and operational guidance to identify needs, provide technical inputs and on how to disseminate final products. This group will be made up of member state stakeholders, UN agencies (HQ, regional and country representatives), NGOs, practitioners and researchers. Identification of countries and/or regions willing and committed to the co-creation of context-specific nutrition policy and guidance pieces WHO and UNICEF to develop relevant global operational guidance/tools for policymakers, programmers, health care workers and update existing global guidance pieces Develop and update existing global training materialsGovernment-led Stakeholder meetings to be arranged in country with UNICEF and WHO focal points assigned to this commitment to:Analyse relevant current national policies and treatment protocols (health and nutrition) and how this meets national needs as well as fits with new recommendations from the WHO global wasting guidelines. These materials will have been collated and initial analysis done by the global advisory group to improve efficiency of the stakeholder meetingsEstablish what is needed in addition to the above and how to create context-specificity to the national policies and nutritional treatment protocols to make them fit for purpose for this specific country (whilst maintaining the highest possible quality of care principles). Consider any additional nutrition policy or guidance needed for this particular context and how to achieve this, including sharing of in-country developed policies and guidance with other countriesIdentify how any context-specific nutrition policy and guidance pieces could be integrated into existing health system services as well as nutrition programmesCo-creation of the actual context-specific nutrition policy and guidance pieces between assigned national focal points and WHO and UNICEF focal points.Coordinated advocacy and communication for dissemination of policies, guidance and training at country level and piloting of operational guidance/tools at country level (global advisory group to again provide inputs and aspects of knowledge management for this step). Feedback mechanism also created and implemented alongside policies and guidance (surveys, interviews, etc) to collect feedback on how useful, feasible and effective they were for the programmers and health care workers using them on a daily basis. Collation of feedback after 6-12 months by national focal point with WHO and UNICEF support. Second stakeholder meeting to discuss major adaptations/updates needed. Co-creation of the second iteration of operational guidance pieces (and potentially policies) between assigned national focal points and WHO and UNICEF focal points.

Overarching commitment (for commitments submitted pre-2025)

Title

Context-specific wasting guidance

Description

WHO and UNICEF commit to working with the 23 front runner GAP (Global Action Plan for Wasting) countries to produce updated context-specific nutrition policies and treatment protocols covering the prevention and treatment of wasting, which are integrated within the national health system.

These context-specific nutrition policy and guidance pieces will build on global operational guidance produced by WHO and UNICEF as a follow-on to the WHO guideline development process on the prevention and treatment of wasting.

The process to produce these context-specific nutrition policies and prevention/treatment protocols will see direct UNICEF and WHO support, to engage with national governments in a participatory and needs-based approach for the productive co-creation of products that will truly help policy-makers, programmers and health care workers deliver the most efficient, appropriate and acceptable care for wasted children and their families and make sure these are integrated within the existing health system.

Built into the development of these guidance pieces will be mechanisms to collect feedback on how useful, feasible and effective they were for the programmers and health care workers using them on a daily basis. This information, collected by national governments, will then be used in a joint effort with UNICEF and WHO to close an audit loop after one year to determine if and how improvements and updates need to be made to further enhance the impact and results of these context-specific nutrition policy and guidance pieces

GNR assessment

Verification status
Verified
Find out more
SMARTness index

Details

Global nutrition target(s)
Childhood wasting
Nutrition Action Classification(s)
Policy > Nutrition care services
Find out more
Linked event(s)
  • 2021 Tokyo N4G Summit
N4G Summit theme(s)
  • Health
  • Resilience

Measurement

Key indicator Number of countries with context-specific nutrition policies and treatment protocols developed with WHO and UNICEF covering the prevention and treatment of wasting
Value Measurement date
Baseline 0 countries 2021
Target 15 countries

Share this commitment