Past Support to Latin America and Caribbean
Requester:
UNICEF
Background
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most disaster-prone regions of the world; after Asia, it has the second highest number of disasters caused by natural phenomena and these appear to be increasing in frequency. Approximately 13.4 million children and adolescents in LAC live in drought-prone or extremely drought-prone areas, and 13.1 million live in areas that are at extreme risk of flooding. An estimated 5.9 million people flew from Venezuela to neighboring countries because of the economic crisis, and 2 million children were in need of assistance, including migrant children. However, services were overstretched due to increasing demands. This coupled with the Covid-19 economic downturn further exacerbated the need to prevent and address all forms of malnutrition, with a focus on women, children, adolescents, and their caregivers.
The request
UNICEF requested technical support from the GNC Technical Alliance, Technical Support Team (TST) to better understand the nutrition situation through qualitative study and the development of a nutrition advocacy strategy.
Key Achievement:
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Conducted meeting with UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Off (LACRO) to develop a methodology for the study
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Conduct in-depth interviews with key informants to understand the perception of nutrition.
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Conduct a qualitative study, collection of data through key informant interviews and Focus Group Discussion.
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Develop advocacy strategy.
Requester:
UNICEF
Background
The Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies - IYCF-E Webinars Series were conducted by the Global Nutrition Cluster Technical Alliance, UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Regional Office in collaboration with UNICEF Brazil office for the nutrition partners responding to the Venezuelan migrant crisis. This Webinar Series was based on the GRINLAC resources, IYCF-E Save the Children Curriculum Version 2, the Infant Feeding in Emergencies Core Group (IFE CG) Operational Guidance for Breastfeeding Counselling in Emergencies and the Operational Guidance on Infant Feeding in Emergencies (OG-IFE) version 3.0 and recent resources from UNICEF like the Programming Guidance on Complementary Feeding and the Fed to Fail report. Webinar 1 covered breastfeeding support in emergencies such as why it is important and how to support breastfeeding during emergencies. Webinar 2 covered the support for infants who cannot be breastfed in emergencies. Webinar 3 covered support for complementary feeding in emergencies such as why complementary feeding is important, how to support complementary feeding during emergencies supported with examples of emergencies, and the presentation of a case study from Brazil
The request
UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Regional Office identified a need for training on Protecting, promoting, and supporting feeding practices of children under 2 in emergencies of nutrition partners responding to the Venezuelan migrant crisis and called upon the Global Nutrition Cluster Technical Alliance (the Alliance) for support.
Key Achievement:
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Conducted three series of virtual training targeting stakeholders working in nutrition emergencies.