Through collaborations with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, National Institutes of Health, and other global and national organizations, USAID Advancing Nutrition and the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning team are contributing to discussions on individual, national, and global nutrition data collection and monitoring, as well as the tracking of funding and resources directed toward global nutrition programming. In the context of COVID-19, we bolstered data collection and messaging strategies related to nutrition, particularly for women and children.
Key collaborations and convenings
Representatives from USAID, UNICEF, WHO, and USAID Advancing Nutrition formed the Agile Core Team for Nutrition Monitoring to collaborate on key products related to nutrition data collection during COVID-19. The group also serves as a platform for sharing nutrition-related data among member agencies.
USAID Advancing Nutrition supports the SUN Donor Network to strengthen donor resource tracking by monitoring the application of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nutrition policy marker (NPM). The NPM allows donors to track specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound nutrition commitments.
USAID Advancing Nutrition supported the COVID-19 and Infant Feeding Working Group (CIF-WG) between 2020 and 2021. The project led the development and dissemination of Key Messages Related to Evidence on Transmission of COVID in Breastmilk for the working group in September 2020.
The related CIF-Research Interest Group (CIF-RIG) convened an informal multidisciplinary group of experts around the world who met monthly to discuss emerging research about infant feeding practices during the pandemic and identify research gaps.
The CIF-RIG meetings were a venue for sharing, learning, and engaging with participating members, agencies, organizations, academics, and civil society. This group discussed the pandemic’s consequences on milk banking globally and on child feeding in clinical and community settings, and developed COVID-19 Vaccine Guidelines for Breastfeeding Women and Human Milk Banking During the Pandemic.
Related Links
- The COVID-19 Infant Feeding Research Interest Group and Working Group Fact Sheet (USAID Advancing Nutrition)
- Infant and Young Child Feeding Recommendations When COVID-19 is Suspected or Confirmed (USAID Advancing Nutrition)
- Aligning best practices and addressing misinformation for optimal infant feeding during the COVID-19 pandemic (Path)
- COVID-19 vaccines and breastfeeding based on WHO SAGE interim recommendations: FAQ (unicef)