15 January 2013 – During the 1st Quarter 2013 Meeting of the Regional Technical Working Group (RTWG) on Nutrition held at the Conference Room of the Center for Health and Development IV-A in Project 4, Quezon City, a new member was welcomed by the group. Ms. Vicki Wieneke, the president and founder of Kabisig ng Kalahi, a nongovernment organization (NGO) and long-time partner of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) IV-A in their feeding programs was invited by DSWD to share their best practices and also for her to have a clear picture of the nutrition situation in the region. In acknowledgement, she informed the group that she looks forward to being a member of the RTWG and being able to help in the group’s as well as the Regional Sub-Committee on Nutrition's (RSCN) mission of ensuring effective harmonization of regional efforts of public and private sectors and other stakeholders in addressing hunger and malnutrition in Calabarzon.
The RTWG members, in the same meeting reviewed the activities conducted in 2012 and discussed the plan of activities of the group for 2013. They decided to conduct a nutrition service caravan in the nutritionally depressed municipalities (NDM) in the region. One of the identified priorities is Jomalig in Quezon province which topped the ranking of municipalities with very high prevalence of underweight preschool children at the national level. The service caravan aims to provide nutrition services by the different member agencies of the RSCN to help in improving the nutrition situation in the target area.
The group also discussed the criteria for the Search for the Outstanding Nutrition Action Officer (NAO) 2012 and the Search for Outstanding Barangay 2012, the new awards launched by the RSCN during the Regional Nutrition Awarding Ceremony in December 2012. The RTWG members were also updated on the New Nutritional Guidelines for Filipino (NGF), as well as other program updates.
The said meeting was participated in by the RTWG members from various agencies such as: the Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Agriculture (DA), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of Health- Center for Health and Development (DOH-CHD), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Social Welfare and development (DSWD), National Food Authority (NFA), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and Commission on Population (PopCom).
