At the end of February, USAID Advancing Nutrition Mozambique held a closing ceremony with different actors and partners, namely the Secretariado Técnico de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (Technical Secretariat for Food Security and Nutrition) (SETSAN), the Ministério da Saúde (Ministry of Health) (MISAU), the Serviço Provincial de Saúde (Provincial Health Services) (SPS), the Direcção Provincial de Saúde (Provincial Directorate of Health) (DPS) and Serviço Distrital de Saúde, Mulher e Acção Social (Directorates of Health, Women, and Social Action) (SDSMAS), and Transform Nutrition. The event concluded three and a half years of project implementation. It was an opportunity for participants to reflect on the project’s success, provide recommendations for future nutrition programming, recognize key stakeholders for their contributions to the project, and highlight lessons learned during implementation.

Overall, 35 people attended the ceremony including USAID Maputo representatives; Provincial Director of Health, Fernando Mitano, who opened the ceremony; Transform Nutrition staff; and other key implementing partners. USAID Advancing Nutrition Chief of Party in Mozambique, Filipe Zano, shared project achievements. On behalf of the USAID Mission in Mozambique, Megan Thompson expressed her gratitude for the project’s achievements and thanked staff for their commitment throughout the project. The ceremony wrapped up with closing remarks from DPS representative Nalcil Baissone.

From 2019-2023, to support the Government of the Republic of Mozambique, USAID Advancing Nutrition provided technical assistance to improve human resource capacity for nutrition programming and supported the Transform Nutrition project. As a result, the project strengthened the government’s capacity to plan and manage nutrition programming and Transform Nutrition’s capacity to deliver high-quality nutrition programming. We also provided logistical support to the DPS and Serviço SPS to print 13,700 registration books and 18,000 individual patient cards for wasting treatment and iron supplementation; supported SETSAN to establish District Councils on Food Security and Nutrition in 19 districts, which elevated the profile of and government commitment to nutrition; trained 60 high-level government officials in food and nutrition security policies and strategies, and other activities to improve nutrition in Mozambique and especially Nampula province. These accomplishments prove collaboration with partners and the Government of the Republic of Mozambique is critical to the long-term strategy to reduce malnutrition in Mozambique.

USAID Advancing Nutrition is proud to have supported efforts to improve nutrition in Mozambique, and is grateful to the people of Mozambique for their partnership during the last 3.5 years of project implementation. You can read our final country report here.