29 March 2021 – NNC MIMAROPA participated at the Consultation Session with Local Chief Executives (LCEs) on the Proposed Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP): Kasapatan at Ugnayan ng MamamayansaTamangPagkain at Nutrisyon (KUMAIN) via Zoom Application. The activity aims to: a) Present to the LCEs thesituationer report on child stunting and other nutrition concerns in the country, b) Discuss the objectives, key targets, activities and timeline of the proposed project, c) Confirm that the proposed PMNP reflect the national priorities under the COVID-19 situation, and d) Gather inputs from the LCEs on how to improve the implementation process of the project.
The Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP) is among the programs of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger (IATF- ZH) chaired by Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles. It was established through Executive Order No. 101, s. 2020 ensuring that the government policies and initiatives on attaining zero hunger are responsive and effective.This project was proposed by NNC and DSWD with DOH, DILG, DA and DOST-FNRI as its partner agencies. It will bea four-year project from January 2022 to December 2025 targeting 235 municipalities and 5,936 barangays from 12 regions and 26 provinces. In MIMAROPA Region, seven (7) municipalities in Occidental Mindoro: Abra de Ilog, Calintaan, Lubang, Mamburao, Paluan, Rizal and Santa Cruz and seven (7) municipalities in Romblon: Banton, Cajidiocan, Calatrava, Corcuera, Ferrol, San Jose and Santa Maria were the select areas.
"Alam naman po natin na higit pa sa kinakaharap nating suliranin bukod sa COVID-19 ay yung problema din sa kagutuman at malnutrisyon. Kaya itong KUMAIN Series Consultation ay isa sa mga initiatives natin sa Task Force Zero Hunger para ma-engage ang iba't-ibang sectors at stakeholders para magshare ng information, to raise awareness para sa ongoing efforts ng gobyerno para makamit ang Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) # 2: Zero Hunger by Year 2021", Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles eagerly stated.
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic to hunger and undernutrition has urged the government of the Philippines to augment its efforts to address undernutrition. Dr. Marivic S. Samson, OIC – Chief of Nutrition Policy and Planning Division of the National Nutrition Council, shared that the Filipinos are 2nd to the shortest in ASEAN Region, Philippines ranks 9th on global stunting burden and 10th on global wasting burden. From the survey conducted by DOST-FNRI, food insecurity affectedhouseholds with vulnerable groups – 0 to 12 years old children (74.7%) and pregnant women (80.8%). Moreover, discussions to fully understand the impact of first 1,000 days (F1KD) and policies supporting scaling up nutrition in the Philippines were deliberated.
For a successful implementation of KUMAIN Project, the IATF-ZH, NNC, DSWD, DOH, DILG, DA, DOST-FNRI and local government units (LGUs) are anticipated to fully cooperate to achieve SDG #2 or Zero Hunger by 2023!
(NKSLoyola)
