South Sudan Nutrition Policy (SSNP) 2023 - 2033.

The South Sudan Nutrition Policy is a national sectoral framework designed to ensure optimal nutrition for all individuals throughout their lives, enabling them to actively contribute to the country’s economic growth and overall development. It serves as a key roadmap for addressing the complex challenges of malnutrition in the country. The Policy emphasizes the prevention and treatment of all forms of malnutrition, strengthened community engagement, and the creation of a supportive enabling environment. It also focuses on institutional strengthening and the improvement of information systems, including evidence generation and knowledge management. This reflects the Government’s recognition of the far-reaching impacts of malnutrition on health, society, the economy, and national development. This Policy framework is designed to target a wide range of stakeholders including government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, nutrition and healthcare providers, academics, researchers, the private sector, and individuals. It emphasizes the importance of collaboration and coordination between these entities to achieve a sustainable reduction in malnutrition rates. Furthermore, this policy is designed to cover all segments of the population, with a focus on vulnerable groups. By prioritizing inclusivity, the policy ensures that no one is left behind in accessing essential nutrition services and interventions.
The SSNP will focus on the following key priorities from which the goal and objectives of the policy evolve (i) prevention of all forms of malnutrition – stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight and obesity; (ii) treatment and control of wasting, nutritional edema, and micronutrient deficiencies; (iii) enhance community engagement and ownership; (iv) enhancing the enabling environment through cultivating a supportive ecosystem to strengthen nutrition governance and multisectoral coordination, reinforce political will, and increase government allocation of resources for nutrition; (v) institutional strengthening, specifically by enhancing the operational capacities of systems at all levels, including skilled human resources for nutrition; (vi) enhancing nutrition information systems, knowledge management, and the evidence base for effective nutrition programming, emphasizing learning what works, what does not work, and innovations.
The SSNP is expected to achieve the following objectives (i) enhance service delivery to prevent and treat undernutrition among children under five, school-age children, adolescents, women of reproductive age group (WRA), displaced populations, and other vulnerable groups; (ii) prevent and manage nutrition-related NonCommunicable Diseases (NCDs); (iii) enhance participation, ownership, and empowerment of the community and active engagement in all matters that pertain to improved nutrition; (iv) strengthen the enabling environment through improved governance systems and positioning nutrition as a priority development agenda for South Sudan; (v) strengthen capacities for nutrition education, training, research, and innovations; (vi) strengthen information systems, knowledge management, monitoring, and evaluation for evidence-informed decision-making.
The main strategies designed to achieve its policy objectives are organized across several core pillars: (i) Service Delivery Strategies, which improve access, quality, and integration of nutrition services by strengthening health systems, decentralizing delivery, and standardizing protocols. They promote prevention through breastfeeding, diversified diets, school feeding, and behavior change, while expanding treatment for acute malnutrition and chronic conditions. They also support nutrition-sensitive agriculture, food fortification, social protection, and coordination with WASH and agriculture sectors; (ii) Human Resources Development, which builds nutrition capacity across sectors through standardized pre-service curricula and the integration of nutrition into health, agriculture, and WASH training. It also strengthens in-service training using competency-based approaches and flexible learning methods, including digital and distance platforms; (iii) Nutrition Information Systems (NIS), which improve nutrition data systems for better planning and decision-making by developing integrated and sustainable information systems. It strengthens surveillance, data integration, and quality, while promoting research, national surveys, and evidence-based learning to guide interventions; (iv) Private Sector Engagement, which enhances nutrition outcomes through structured collaboration with the private sector. It supports public–private partnerships for food fortification, strengthens coordination platforms, and enforces regulations on food safety and marketing standards for breast milk substitutes; (v) Cross-Cutting Strategies, which address social and environmental factors affecting nutrition by promoting community participation, gender equality, and men’s involvement in nutrition activities. They also support climate change adaptation through climate-smart agriculture, resilient systems, early warning, and improved access to climate finance; (vi) Enabling Environment, Governance, and Financing, which ensure sustainability through strong governance, coordination, and accountability mechanisms. It strengthens leadership structures, improves policy enforcement, and mobilizes domestic and external funding while enhancing financial transparency and resource use.