Demonstrating evidence of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and resilience of five years’ multisectoral investment in child nutrition in Nigeria – UNICEF’s Country Programme of Cooperation (2018–2022)

Author:

NDAMOBISSI Robert1,KUTUNDO Edward1,HODGE Mrs Annabel Judith1,HAJEEBHOY Mrs Nemat1,MOREY Mitchell2,RING Mrs Hannah2,WARREN Mrs Anna2,OLUWASEUN Ariyo3

Affiliation:

1. United Children's Fund Nigeria, Nigeria

2. American Institutes for Research

3. University of Ibadan in Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract

Nigeria is the largest country in Africa in terms of its population and economy, and has innovative policies, strategies and investments to improve child survival and development. Despite these efforts, approximately 12 million Nigerian children aged under 5 years are stunted and 3 million are suffering from wasting. In response to this child malnutrition crisis, UNICEF partnered with the Government of Nigeria and public-private partners to develop and implement the Nigeria–UNICEF Country Programme of Cooperation (2018–2022), with nutrition as part of the child survival component. The Nutrition CPC was independently evaluated against six Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Assistance Committee criteria (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability), and two cross-cutting criteria (equity/gender and resilience). Key objectives were to determine the programme’s merit based on expected results and impact; and the effectiveness of multisectoral interventions for addressing child malnutrition. The evaluation methodology was a mixed methods’ design with two components: an impact and performance evaluation of nationwide nutrition programming; and an impact evaluation of multisectoral integrated interventions in seven pilot states. Methods included a document review, an analysis of existing survey data comparing outcomes in intervention and control states, an analysis of primary survey data from over 5,600 households, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and direct observations. The Nutrition CPC was found to be partially successful in terms of its relevance, coherence effectiveness, efficiency (value for money), impact and equity; highly successful with regards to resilience; and ‘unsuccessful’ for sustainability. The programme achieved targets across several expected results. At the national level, it reached 35 million children with vitamin A supplementation. In UNICEF supported states, over 2.5 million (80 per cent) of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were treated. By supporting infant and young child nutrition services, the Nutrition CPC improved the likelihood and frequency of infants receiving breastmilk (extending duration by 0.33 months per child) and a more diverse diet. However, only 30 per cent of caregivers in treatment areas were aware of the programme’s key activities and less than 20 per cent of caregivers reported receiving counselling on multisectoral interventions (water, sanitation and hygiene, child nutrition or parenting). The programme contributed in measurable ways to improving nutrition knowledge and infant feeding practices and saving the lives of 2.5 million children aged under 5 years affected by severe acute malnutrition. However, it has not achieved its goal of significantly reducing child malnutrition, with nutrition outcomes still languishing at low levels. Prevalence of wasting has increased due to the negative impact of COVID-19 on household food insecurity, poverty and increased inflation, as well as physical insecurity in the north of the country. Delivering a multisectoral programme to support nutrition proved challenging, and many stakeholders have concerns about the government’s capacity to sustain the progress that has been achieved.

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Reference50 articles.

1. Maternal and child under nutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequences; Lancet;Black R;Lancet,2008

2. United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization and World Bank Group, WHO and World Bank. (2020). Levels and Trends in Child Malnutrition: Key findings of the 2020 edition of the joint child malnutrition estimates. New York, Geneva and Washington D.C.: UNICEF,.  https://data.unicef.org/resources/jme-report-2020/.

3. United Nations Children’s Fund (n.d. (b)). ‘Nutrition: Malnutrition rates in children under 5 years’.  https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/media/1646/file/%20Nigeria-equity-profile-nutrition.pdf.pdf.

4. National Population Commission & CIRCLE, Social Solutions I. (2020). Nigeria 2019 Verbal and Social Autopsy Study: Main Report. www.harpnet.org/resource/2019-verbal-and-social-autopsy-vasa-study-main-report/.

5. Hinshaw D, McGroarty P. (2014, April 6). Nigeria’s economy surpasses South Africa’s in size. The Wall Street Journal. www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304819004579485360572851126.

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3