Challenges and opportunities in national coordination of

stunting reduction efforts in

Tanzania

Obey Assery Nkya

PMO, Tanzania

Promoting Healthy Growth and Preventing Childhood Stunting Colloquium

Childhood Stunting: Challenges and Opportunities

Geneva, 14 October 2013

Coordination Challenges - I

• Coordination is by nature challenging considering the

multiplicity of stakeholders involved

• Changing attitudes, mindsets, and thinking about

malnutrition as a health rather than multisectoral issue

• Mobilizing all the stakeholders that should be involved

in stunting reduction (senior government officials,

private sector, academia and civil society organizations)

• All sectors should play their part to reduce the burden

on the health sector, e.g., community development

workers sensitizing women right from pregnancy so

stunting reduction in the First 1000 days is not left to

the health sector alone

Coordination Challenges - II

• Cascade coordination mechanism to other levels

of government all the way to grassroots

• Action takes place on the ground, central

government makes policies that need translating

at subnational levels where implementation takes

place.

• Coordination should be done in a manner that

bridges policies (made at central government)

and their implementation (at subnational levels)

• Requires mechanism for up-and-down

information transfer

Coordination Challenges - III

• Donor coordination. Donors support

government but may have their own

priorities, ways of doing things, preferred

places to work or projects that could be done

differently.

• Government has mapped "who is doing what

where" so that the true scope and coverage of

donor activities throughout the country (how

many districts? Villages?)

• Need to align donor and government

priorities

Coordination Challenges - IV

• Private sector involvement. Although involved

in the high-level steering committee, no proper

alliance has been formed or clear role defined

to support a streamlined contribution to

stunting reduction

• Numerous civil society organizations (CSOs) • Many small local CSOs with limited-scale

activities, difficult to account for

• Disadvantaged in competing for resources with the

larger international NGOs

• Difficult to coordinate their activities and pool

results

Opportunities – I

• There is high-level political will and commitment

to support stunting reduction

• A robust coordination mechanism is in place,

involving of most sectors that are relevant

• A decentralized system already exists that once

shaped and strengthened should implement

actions sub-nationally

• Donors are responsive, their contribution

effective with streamlined collaboration

• SUN Movement – provides momentum to

support nutrition activities in the country

Opportunities - II

• Human resources: Nutrition officers posted in

the districts, have been working in other sectors

but can be mobilized to carry out effective

nutrition work

• Community development officers that are

competent to carry out advocacy

• Up to date policy and national nutrition

strategy: they specify who is responsible for

different actions and at different levels

• A costed implementation plan is available