Uganda Nutrition Action Plan 2011-2016.

The goal of the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan is to reduce malnutrition levels among women of reproductive age, infants and young children from 2011 through 2016 and beyond. To achieve the afore-mentioned goal the following strategic objectives will be pursued through 2016: Objective 1: Improve access to and utilisation of services related to maternal, infant, and young child nutrition. Related strategies suggest to promote access and utilisation of nutrition and health services to all women of reproductive age, infants, and young children (1.1); Address gender and socio-cultural issues that affect maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (1.2). Objective 2: Enhance consumption of diverse diets; Objective 3: Protect households from the impact of shocks and other vulnerabilities that affect their nutritional status; Objective 4: Strengthen the policy, legal, and institutional frameworks and the capacity to effectively plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate nutrition programmes; Objective 5: Create awareness of and maintain national interest in and commitment to improving and supporting nutrition programmes in the country.
Chapter 3 of Part I deals with “Causes of High Malnutrition in Uganda” establishing that there are three broad underlying causes of inadequate dietary intake and the high disease burden: 1) Household food insecurity; 2) Inadequate maternal and child care; 3) Poor access to health care and a healthy environment. Elsewhere in the Plan, it is suggested that the nature of the underlying causes of child malnutrition is largely dependent on how available resources are distributed within Uganda. The availability of nutrition resources at the household level is linked to a set of basic causes. The Plan is intended to reduce the magnitude of malnutrition in Uganda and its impact on the individual, household, community, and the nation at large. It will stimulate the nation toward the achievement of acceptable levels of nutrition security, especially for women of reproductive age, infants, young children and other vulnerable groups.
Chapter 4 of Part II deals with “Action Plan Target Groups and Broad Strategies”. The Plan addresses in a substantive manner the entire scope of the malnutrition problem in Uganda, and in particular shall focus on infants, young children, and mothers, both women of reproductive age and adolescent girls who will become mothers.
Section 6 of Part III addresses Implementation, an essential element, since the lack of an institutionalised coordinating mechanism for nutrition has been one of the main contributors to the ineffectiveness of past interventions. The Section makes provisions for: 1) Institutional Arrangements; 2) Coordination Arrangements; 3) Implementation Strategy; 4) Prerequisites for Implementation. Aspects of financing are contained in section 7 of Part III. It lays down provisions relating to: 1) the Government of Uganda; 2) Development Partners; 3) Public-Private Partnerships. Section 8 on Monitoring and Evaluation specifies that the current M&E system for nutrition and food security indicators is weak, with minimal and fragmented systems among sectors and development partners. To effectively track progress of the present Plan’s (UNAP) implementation and performance of the target outcome and output indicators, a comprehensive and integrated multi-sectoral monitoring system for nutrition will be developed. n annual multi-sectoral monitoring and reporting system will be established with a lead coordinating Agency, which will be the National Planning Authority (NPA) in the interim and the Food and Nutrition Council (FNC) once it is legally established.
The text consists of 3 Parts as follows: Overview (I); The Strategic Direction (II); Implementation, Financing, and Monitoring & Evaluation Frameworks (III). Four Annexes are enclosed.