Scaling Up Nutrition - Expansion of the REACH Mechanism

This project expands Canada’s support to Renewed Efforts Against Child Hunger and Undernutrition (REACH) in order to support country-led efforts to effectively scale-up nutrition activities to improve health and reduce death in the most vulnerable mothers and children. This project brings REACH into three to four additional countries with high rates of undernutrition which have joined the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement. REACH provides support that is based on a country’s specific needs and level of preparedness for scaling up nutrition interventions and works to increase government capacity to address undernutrition effectively and sustainably. The coordinated REACH approach ensures more effective and coherent food and nutrition assistance by supporting integrated interventions to link child undernutrition food security (or access to safe sufficient and nutritious food) and health. The project also supports the REACH Secretariat which provides overall coordination and technical expertise to participating countries. REACH is a coordinating mechanism of five United Nations agencies working in the field of nutrition: the United Nations World Food Programme the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) the World Health Organization the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and a recent new member the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The expected immediate outcomes for this project include: (1) increased awareness of the problem of undernutrition and potential solutions; (2) strengthened national nutrition policies and programs; (3) increased nutrition management capacity; and (4) improved nutrition monitoring and evaluation systems. The expected intermediate outcome is improved nutrition and reduced vulnerability for women and children in countries receiving support through REACH expansion.