KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 24
The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has issued the 'Nutrition-friendly Local Level Implementation Directive, 2022' in a bid to address the nutritional needs of lactating mothers, infants, children, adolescent girls, and vulnerable people.
The directive envisions building healthy, prosperous and civilised human capital and aims to make all 753 local levels nutrition-friendly by 2030.
It has envisioned three objectives that include improvement in nutritional status of women, children and adolescent girls, institutionalisation of multi-sector practices in nutrition, and adoption of nutrition-friendly local good governance by pursuing reforms in local level policies, plans, programmes and service delivery.
According to the directive, it will help develop human capital and achieve nutrition-related targets set by the Sustainable Development Goals, 2030.
The local levels, elected representatives and employees will be provided orientation to conduct awareness-raising programmes and advocacy to educate people about nutrients found in various local foods.
It also focuses on nutritional activism to bring about change in food habits of the people.
"Nutrition programme will be incorporated into sectoral plans and training curricula of the local level, in addition to designation of a nutrition coordinator at each local unit for effectiveness of nutrition-friendly local good governance," it says.
Other activities include information dissemination, education and communication campaign, interaction, capacity development, social mobilisation for ending harmful social practices, sanitation, entrepreneurship development, collaboration with private sector and civil society, results-based monitoring and provision of budget, among others.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
