“Come-on! And be our partners!” was the powerful and encouraging statement of the Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator of CaLaBaRZon, Ms. Carina Z. Santiago, in her opening message to LGUs in the virtual CaLaBaRZon Regional Team of Planning Facilitators (RTPF) Annual Investment Planning (AIP) Workshops last September 18.
As a momentum to invest in nutrition, the AIP workshops for LGUs provides an effective strategy that ensures that nutrition will be integrated in the 2021 Annual Investment Programs (AIPs) of LGUs to secure the gains made for nutrition programs which have been part of the local planning and budgeting workshops in 2019.
The results of the strategy will bring about the following: the increased recognition of the alarming malnutrition in the country; proposals for supplemental budget and budgetary requirements for nutrition in the AIPs for 2020, 2021 and 2022 projects ; and activities that focus on stunting reduction and addressing other forms of malnutrition.
The event was actively joined by eight (8) members from the Regional Technical Working Group (RTWG) on Nutrition, eight (8) from the DOH Human Resource for Health–Nutritionist-Dietitians Deployment Program (HRH-NDDP), and six (6) from NNC-CaLaBaRZon.
The virtual training, facilitated by the Regional Nutrition staff from CaLaBaRZon included sessions and topics on the following:
Session 1: Orientation on the NNC LGU mobilization strategy and its accomplishments, the local planning and budgeting process, and bottlenecks and principal constraints LGUs face in investing in nutrition;
Session 2: Presentation on the overall strategy of the three-stage online AIP workshop and definition of the roles and responsibilities of the RTPF;
Session 3: Sharing of key lessons from the pilot experience of the online workshop with the Municipality of Talibon and the process of formulating a draft 2021 AIP with nutrition actions/activities strongly factored;
Session 4: Emphasis on key elements to be secured in completing the draft of 2021 AIP of the LGU teams as well as the actions required to ensure the approval of the budgets indicated in the workshop output.
After the session proper, a re-entry planning was conducted, followed by an open forum which discussed future plans and preparations for the upcoming LGU workshop. Members of RTPF were very particular about the timeline on the conduct of the workshop and pointed out the necessary measures to be taken and the necessary coordination required before, during and after the workshop. The NNC-CaLaBaRZon staff responded politely on the agreements and mentioned that there will be a continuous learning exchange through a “chat platform” enabling adaptation between RTPF members.
In the closing message of Ms. Santiago, she encouraged the RTPF members to be committed and active partners of NNC-CaLaBaRZon in conducting seven (7) batches of Online Workshops for five (5) provinces, 19 cities and 15 municipalities, this coming October and November 2020, respectively.
The pledge of commitment was expressed by participants by raising their right hand, signifying a decisive agreement between NNC-CaLaBaRZon and partners (RTWG and HRH-NDDP) in their continuous support to provide technical assistance in incorporating nutrition in the AIPs of the LGUs in CaLaBaRZon.
The workshops are reinforced by the Joint DILG-DOH-NNC Memorandum Circular No. 2019-0001 or “Guidelines on the Integration of specific programs, project and activities (PPAs) from the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022 to the Local Development Plans, Investment Programs and Budget of Local Government Units.”
Stay steadily informed for the incoming activities of the RTPF members in partnership with NNC-CaLaBaRZon in leading, assisting and guiding LGUs in AIP Workshops.
