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Published on October 28, 2022

Taisha and Alausi cantonal roundtables seek to add efforts against Chronic Child Malnutrition


During the month of August 2022, the intersectoral cantonal roundtables of Taisha, Morona Santiago and Alausi, Chimborazo received the technical team of the World Food Program (WFP), in the framework of the joint program 'Financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Ecuador and targeting Chronic Child Malnutrition'. This approchement took place thanks to the support of the Technical Secretariat ‘Ecuador Grows Without Child Malnutrition’ (STECSDI) in the framework of strengthening local spaces and aligning initiatives from different sectors to reduce child malnutrition in these territories, which have been prioritized by the national government due to the prevalence of high rates of chronic child malnutrition.

 

Among the actions carried out was the participation in the monthly meeting of the cantonal table, where representatives of the decentralized autonomous governments and executing institutions such as the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES) and the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) analyze the progress of the battle against child malnutrition in the territory.

One of the main achievements of this space was the successful presentation of the management model of the Consultative Council for the reduction of the Chronic Child Malnutrition, which was designed by the Joint Program and highlights the importance and the need for the participation of civil society and private sector actors in local spaces to complement and articulate efforts and resources for the prevention and reduction of the Child Malnutrition. For this, a dialogue session was held with representatives of civil society interested in linking their efforts and strengthening the work carried out by the roundtables.

Both in Taisha and Alausi the phases were satisfactorily completed, and, with the commitment of both dialogue roundtables, the mapping and insertion of civil society representatives was incorporated. This step is fundamental in the implementation of the National Integrated Financing Framework in a pilot initiative: the policy to reduce Chronic Child Malnutrition

Financing the SDGs and targeting chronic child malnutrition is a joint program involving the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNICEF and the World Food Program (WFP), agencies of the United Nations system in Ecuador in support to the national government. The interagency program, promoted by the Joint United Nations Fund (SDG Fund), aims to generate an environment to improve the management of sustainable development financing in Ecuador and leverage both public and private resources for the SDGs. Specifically, the strengthened financial structure will be applied to one of the country's main health problems, chronic child malnutrition, to help improve its indicators with multiplier effects on the SDGs.