Alaminos City, Pangasinan—The National Nutrition Council- ROI spearheaded by Nutrition Program Coordinator Ma. Eileen Blanco introduced the establishment of the Early Warning System for Food and Nutrition Security (EWS-FNS) project during the orientation meeting last May 31, 2016 held at Alaminos City Conference Hall. The visit aims to get the commitment, support and acceptance of the City Government of Alaminos City to adopt the said project which will eventually assist the decision makers in executing appropriate interventions supported by evidence-based EWS-FNS result to address or alleviate food insufficiency on a short-term as well as long-term basis.
The orientation was attended by 15 members of the City Nutrition Committee led by City Administrator Emielou Gellado in behalf of Mayor Arthuro Celeste together with representatives from the City Planning and Development Office, City Health Office, City Nutrition Office, City Agriculture Office, City Social Welfare and Development Office, City Information Office, City BNS Federation and City BHW Federation
Alaminos City was identified as an expansion area of the project as one of the Accelerated and Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program (ASAPP) areas and among the nutritionally depressed cities in the region based on the results of the Operation Timbang Plus (OPT+) in 2015.
Mr. Kendall Gatan and Ms. Gretchen Nisperos of NNC presented the brief overview of the EWS-FNS and the Regional Nutrition Situation, respectively while Dr. Ma. Victoria Carambas, City Health Officer presented the City Nutrition Situation and the efforts and initiatives of the City Government in addressing malnutrition.
Dr. Gellado in behalf of Mayor Arthuro Celeste and the LGU of Alaminos accepted and committed their full support on the establishment of the said project in Alaminos City.
“The City Government will surely be benefited on this project especially in the integration of efforts and initiatives in addressing not only the alarming city nutrition situation but also its poverty incidence,” she said.
Ms. Blanco said in her message that Alaminos City will be the third recipient of the EWS-FNS project in the region joining Tagudin, Ilocos Sur and Solsona, Ilocos Norte. She added that with the full support of the local partners, the project will surely provide the LGUs vital results as strong basis in providing necessary support to the identified priority population.
The consultative workshop and the training for the EWS Team will be conducted on the last week of July and first week of August 2016, respectively.
