NUTRITION PLANNING. Local government officials in Hinundayan, Southern Leyte gather for a workshop on integrating nutrition plans to annual investment plans in this Sept. 28, 2020 photo. The National Nutrition Council (NNC) has been appealing to local governments to prioritize nutrition programs in their list of funded activities next year. (Photo courtesy of NNC Region 8)
TACLOBAN CITY – The National Nutrition Council (NNC) is stepping up its advocacy for the integration of nutrition programs on the list of funded activities by local governments in Eastern Visayas next year.
Personnel of the NNC Region 8 has been meeting with local government officials to help identify activities that will be integrated into the annual investment plans (AIP), said Catalino Dotollo, NNC regional nutrition program coordinator, in a phone interview on Tuesday.
The NNC advocates for the integration of four major programs --first 1,000 days program; Philippine integrated management of acute malnutrition; nutrition-sensitive programs, including sustainable community and home food production; and enabling programs and factoring the ongoing and post-pandemic situation.
“We have been providing (an) enabling mechanism that will allow local governments to integrate into their annual investment plans the nutrition programs. Planning is not enough as we need funds to see results,” Dotollo added.
The workshop facilitated by the NNC utilizes an excel-based costing template for the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN)-based programs and their component projects identified and prioritized in the Local Nutrition Action Plan 2020-2022.
The AIP is the work and financial plan of the local government for one year. It allows local governments to administer and provide budgetary support based on the priorities of their updated comprehensive development plan and local development investment program.
Recently, the Department of the Interior and Local Government enjoined all local governments to prioritize in the allocation of local funds the projects, programs, and activities included in their respective local nutrition action plans.
The NNC, an agency under the Department of Health, is the country's highest policy-making and coordinating body on nutrition. (PNA)
