Holistic Provision of Technical Expertise to Strengthen the Quality and Scale of Nutrition Humanitarian Systems

The initiative aims to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals by addressing malnutrition, particularly in children under 5 years of age, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons. The Technical Support Team (TST) of the GNC Technical Alliance seeks to address the problem of limited technical expertise on nutrition situation analysis by providing access to experienced nutrition technical specialists. The TST offers in-depth technical support, helpdesk support, provision of consultant recommendations, and capacity strengthening initiatives. During the reporting period from October 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, the TST fulfilled 18 pieces of technical support, with 11 completed and seven ongoing. The TST continued to work towards the 2022 Work Plan and started to work on the 2023 Work Plan, including strengthening support to national organizations and strengthening gender mainstreaming in all technical support. TST members played a lead role in cross-cutting theme workstreams, advancing thematic areas within nutrition in emergency. Other important activities that advanced during this reporting period include the Moderate Wasting Initiative, GNC Mentoring Programme, implementation of a professional development plan for TST, and initiation of development of innovative tools in the form of short videos to address small challenges in nutrition activities. The SMART initiative continued to offer technical support and guidance to nutrition partners and governments in different countries on nutrition assessments and the Nutrition Information System (NIS). The SMART team chairs the global assessment working group to improve NIS systems globally. During this reporting period, there was extensive support to the NIS in Yemen, including in-person and remote support, as well as planning NIS activities in the country. The SMART team was involved in planning NIS activities in Yemen, including conducting SMART surveys in the Southern part of Yemen between November 2022 to January 2023. A total of 6 SMART surveys were conducted in the country and used for the recent IPC analysis. The SMART team also developed the Risk Monitoring framework (RMF) for Yemen, comparing 2021/2022 SMART survey data with WHO surveillance data to understand the correlation between the two data sources. Capacity building initiatives for different partners in different countries and regions continued, targeting government staff, NGOs, academia, and UN agencies involved in conducting surveys. The SMART team chairs the Yemen NIS working group, which was formed to offer technical support and guidance to the country to strengthen its NIS. The SMART team has been involved in planning NIS activities in Yemen, including conducting SMART surveys in the Southern part of Yemen between November 2022 to January 2023. The initiative aims to strengthen the quality and scale of nutrition humanitarian systems globally, with a focus on Yemen. The SMART team has been working closely with the Yemen NIS working group to provide technical support and guidance to the country to strengthen its NIS. The team has also been involved in planning NIS activities in Yemen, including conducting SMART surveys in the Southern part of Yemen between November 2022 to January 2023. The initiative aims to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals by addressing malnutrition, particularly in children under 5 years of age, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons. The SMART team has been working closely with the Yemen NIS working group to provide technical support and guidance to the country to strengthen its NIS. The team has also been involved in planning NIS activities in Yemen, including conducting SMART surveys in the Southern part of Yemen between November 2022 to January 2023.