Empowering women through a holistic approach to maternal and children’ nutrition

This project aims to support the Egyptian government's national food and nutrition strategy 2023 to 2030 in order to promote maternal and child nutrition. Project activities include: (1) organizing workshops with national partners to support the Code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes; (2) implementing advocacy activities to strengthen support for legislation to improve nutrition and food security; (3) developing a monitoring framework for the implementation of the Action plan against anemia; (4) increasing the availability of gender-disaggregated nutritional data; (5) providing technical support for the development of the National investment framework for girls; (6) developing training manuals for health workers on menstrual health and anemia; (7) developing breastfeeding support and Baby-Friendly Hospital initiatives; (8) training health personnel in nutrition WASH program food and water conservation and recycling; (9) equipping health facilities with materials education and communication materials relating to maternal and child health and nutrition; (10) rehabilitating WASH services in primary health care facilities; (11) supporting nutritional awareness and screening services in schools; (12) equipping community organizations with kitchens and nutritional equipment; (13) developing guidelines for nurseries and organize events to promote gardening among children and parents; and (14) purchasing supplies for kitchens and gardens. This project aims to target 200 public establishments including 10 hospitals 35 schools and 150 nurseries in Egypt. It expects to directly benefit 305 000 patients and 2 000 healthcare professionals and indirectly benefit 9.4 million people.

The expected outcomes of the project include: (1) strengthened nutrition enabling environment and governance structures for women adolescent girls and children in Egypt; (2) improved access and coverage of quality gender - responsive essential nutrition services in healthcare facilities; and (3) improved attitudes behaviours and access to healthy safe and affordable diets through a multisectoral approach and enhancing community engagement on gender responsive nutritional habits.