National Nutrition Programme 2013-2015.

The present revised National Nutritional Programme (NNP) is designed to address both long-term and short-term nutrition goals in Ethiopia. Sustainable, long-term reduction of malnutrition is the ultimate aim of the present Programme. In particular, a special effort shall be made to reduce child mortality because of malnutrition. Ethiopia has witnessed encouraging progress in reducing malnutrition over the past decade. However, baseline levels of malnutrition remain so high that the country must continue to make significant investments in nutrition. As a recent survey by the Central Statistical Agency (CSA, 2007) has revealed, the chronic malnutrition among women in Ethiopia is relatively high and women’s nutrition affects a wide range of health and social issues, including family care and households.
The strategic objectives of the Programme are contained in Chapter 2 and are defined as follows: Improve the nutritional status of women (15–49 years) and adolescents (10–19 years) (1); Improve the nutritional status of infants, young children and children under 5 (2); Improve the delivery of nutrition services for communicable and non-communicable/lifestyle related diseases (all age groups) (3); Strengthen implementation of nutrition sensitive interventions across sectors (4). In this connexion, it must be underlined that the Ministry of Agriculture has a Food Security Programme that aims to sustainably ensure adequate quantity and quality of food. The last objective is to improve multi-sectoral coordination and capacity to ensure the Programme’s implementation (5).
Chapter 3 makes provisions for: 1) Policy framework; 2) Regulatory framework; 3) Multi-sectoral coordination and capacity building (Multi-sectoral coordination and linkages for nutrition; Capacity building); 4) Nutrition communication; 5) Gender dimensions of nutrition. It is underlined that gender and nutrition are inextricable parts of the vicious cycle of poverty. Gender inequality can be a cause as well as an effect of hunger and malnutrition. Not surprisingly, higher levels of gender inequality are associated with higher levels of under-nutrition, both acute and chronic.
Chapter 4 lays down provisions relating to sustainable financing for nutrition. Table 4 shows the committed budget and financial gap to implement NNP from 2013 to 2015 in US Dollars.
The text consists of 5 Chapters: Introduction (1); Strategic objectives and initiatives (2); Implementation and governance (3); Sustainable financing for nutrition (4); Framework for monitoring, evaluation and operational research (5).