NNC MIMAROPA officially introduced the fielded Information Management Officer Xylene Notario to the MNAOs of Palawan. The National Nutrition Council MIMAROPA, led by NPC Ma. Eileen Blanco, together with NO III Camille Chen and IMO Xylene Notario held a meeting last February 10, 2022 through Zoom application and was joined by, PNAO Rachel Paladan, 13 MNAOs of Palawan, and 3 representatives from other municipalities.

The meeting highlighted the importance of the functions of the IMO in Nutrition in Emergencies. The IMO will gather data, collate, present, and update it to provide information on availability of resources, priority targets and will be the basis for the nutrition services to be provided during emergencies. The IMO will also formulate a monitoring and evaluation framework to check the impact of the given nutrition services. Lastly, she will participate in contingency planning to decrease the negative impact on nutrition if ever a disaster strikes.

The functions were discussed in relation to the MNAOs. Provision of data, assistance in area visits and updating of database, and participation in nutrition cluster response plan, Post-Incident Evaluation, monitoring and evaluation, and contingency planning were emphasized as requested actions from the MNAOs. Tools and forms for data gathering will be provided by IMO Notario and she will also assist them in accomplishing these.

Updates on the current situation of the municipalities were also mentioned. MNAOs from highly affected areas such as Dumaran and Araceli informed us that vegetables were scarce in their area and that decrease in employment rate is likely to happen due to the destruction of farms and lands. These updates will be included in the situation report.

In conclusion, regular communication of the IMO and the MNAOs is expected for efficient updating of database, and immediate provision of nutrition services in response to Typhoon Odette.

Written by: IMO Xylene Ann B. Notario