This is a special section of Field Exchange (FEX) focusing on complementary feeding programming in fragile and emergency contexts. The aim being to provide an array of experiences from multiple contexts documenting actions for improving the diets of young children. The section provides a snapshot of recent developments related to complementary feeding, involving research, experiences and guidance development. It also includes an overview of the latest UNICEF actions at the global, regional and country level to support complementary feeding in fragile settings.
There is a need to understand and share learning about complementary feeding programming, especially in challenging contexts. This is also timely given the multiple crises we are facing around the world and the compounding effects of climate-induced emergencies (including droughts and environmental degradation), widespread conflict including the war in Ukraine, and the continuing socioeconomic impacts of the COVID19 pandemic. In this special section.
This shows how the UNICEF Action Framework for improving young children’s diets (UNICEF, 2020a) has been applied and used in contexts such as in Sudan, Nigeria, Myanmar and Yemen. It features examples of the first step in the Action Framework, which consists of conducting a landscape analysis of drivers and determinants at both the regional and country level. It also features country experiences of the multi systems approach to improving diets in early childhood, including through the health system in Egypt and the Social Protection system in Kenya. We also present specific emergency response actions, such as in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, the State of Palestine and Brazil, and innovative approaches such as the complementary feeding bowl and spoon
Access the Special Section here
You may also be interested in:
- Food distributions in Myanmar: Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the coup d’etat
- Using flow charts and health systems strengthening to improve antenatal nutrition services in India
- Developing the Yemen Action Plan on child wasting: A success story
- An innovative digital information platform tackling wasting in Indonesia
- Improving the uptake of family mid-upper arm circumference screening in Mali
- Establishing an effective multi-sectoral nutrition information system in Ivory Coast
- In Yemen, Cash Assistance Contributes to Positive Nutritional Outcomes
- Ethiopia: Are children of employed mothers less stunted than those of unemployed mothers?
- UNICEF regional perspectives on complementary feeding
- Cash transfers and health education to address young child diets in Kenya
