National Nutrition Council (NNC) recognized the country's cream of the crop local government units (LGUs) and nutrition workers in the recently concluded National Nutrition Awarding Ceremony (NNAC) which was held in the historic landmark Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City last 12 December 2017. More than 500 guests participated in the honor ceremony led by DOH Secretary and NNC Governing Board Chair Dr. Francisco T. Duque III represented by Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Maria Francia M. Laxamana.
Assistant Secretary of Health and NNC Executive Director Maria-Bernardita T. Flores delivered the welcome message and said,
" Today, we celebrate our champions, the local government units and their local chief executives, their legislative councils, their functionaries, their community members particularly parents who worked together to plan and implement their nutrition programs efficiently. We celebrate how these efforts have produced results in terms of reduced levels of child undernutrition and overnutrition."
NNC aims to scale up the number of LGUs with outstanding performance consistently with the new strategy of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022 on intensified LGU mobilization for delivery of positive nutrition outcomes. With support from the Nutrition International (formerly Micronutrient Initiative) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Philippines, NNC will develop a Compendium of Action on Nutrition that will be a compilation of success stories and lessons learned from the implementation of effective nutrition actions. Eleven (11) LGUs were selected, majority of which are recipients of the Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner on Nutrition (CROWN) and Nutrition Honor Awards, to serve as subject areas.
NNC will use the compendium to show to other LGUs that, much like these successful LGUs, they could also be effective in formulating a comprehensive plan of action on nutrition, make informed decisions and adapt best approaches for successful and effective local level PPAN implementation.
The NNAC roster of LGU nutrition champions in the country for 2016 includes twenty-one (21) LGUs as follows:
CROWN Award (with score of at least 90%)
