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Directors Bio 3471 2756

AZUCENA MILANA-DAYANGHIRANG, MD, MCH, CESO III
ASSISTANT SECRETARY and EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NATIONAL NUTRITION COUNCIL

Dr. Azucena M. Dayanghirang is an experienced public health leader. For the past 29 years, she has been a facilitator and a trainer for various health programs particularly on Maternal Child Health and Nutrition. She has served the people of Davao as City Nutrition Action Officer from 1991-1995; Chief of the Technical Services Division and Medical Officer VI of Davao City Health Office from 1996 to 2005; as well as the Provincial Health Officer II and Provincial Nutrition Action Officer of Davao del Sur from 2008 to 2016.

During her stint in the local government, she led the City Nutrition Committee in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health and nutrition programs. She initiated the “Fresh Milk Supplemental Feeding Program,” which led to the reduction of protein-energy malnutrition among 0-6-year-old children. She also successfully lobbied for the regularization of 32 Nutritionist-Dietitians deployed in the 16 Districts of Davao City in 1996.

In 2016, she was elected as the National President of the Nutrition Action Officers' Association of the Philippines (NAOPA), Inc. Shortly after, she was appointed as Deputy Executive Director of the National Nutrition Council (NNC), an attached agency of the Department of Health, Philippines. In August 2019, Dr. Dayanghirang was appointed as the Executive Director of the NNC. Currently, she is designated as the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Philippines Government Focal Point and most recently, appointed as a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement representing Asia and Papua New Guinea.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the appointment of Dr. Dayanghirang to Career Executive Service Officer (CESO) Rank III effective 3 December 2020. Recently, she was upgraded to Executive Director IV with the rank of Assistant Secretary as approved by President Duterte through Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea on 21 July 2021.

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One of the main events of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Global Gathering was the SUN Global Village where member countries of the SUN Movement, SUN Networks, and key partners showcase their progress, achievements, and innovations in scaling up nutrition.

The SUN Global Village was inaugurated during the opening ceremony held in 4 November.

The Philippines, a member of the SUN Movement since 2014, featured recently approved legislations, tools, and models to address the alarming nutrition problem in the country.

The legislations include Republic Act (RA) 11148 or the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act which aims to scale up nutrition intervention programs in the first 1000 days of a child’s life, and RA 11037 or Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act which aims to improve the nutritional status of daycare, kindergarten, and public elementary school children through supplementary feeding.  Other legislations were RA 11223 or the Universal Healthcare Act and RA 11210 or the Expanded Maternity Leave Law.

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Meanwhile, the tools showcased were along growth monitoring and development, information management tools for nutrition in disaster risk reduction management, food technologies, and IEC materials developed for improved monitoring system, increased nutrition action, and wider dissemination of nutrition messages, respectively.

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Lastly, different models along the first 1000 days were also showcased.  The models featured included NNC’s Early Childhood Care and Development in the First 1000 Days (ECCD F1K) Program, Save the Children’s Kalinga Framework and the First 1000 Days focused on MNCHN Programming, Nutrition International’s Right Start Initiative, UNICEF Integrated Programming on the First 1000 Days, and Quezon Province’s F1K Program.

Furthermore, the Philippine delegation also brought some Filipino delicacies like dried mangoes, polvoron, and durian candies for other SUN member countries to taste the Filipino culture.