Butuan City- On August 25, 2022, the Regional Nutrition Evaluation Team interviewed and evaluated the City Nutrition Action Officer (CNAO) contender of Tandag City, Dr. Reyveen John B. Geli, using the Monitoring and Evaluation of Local Level Plan Implementation (MELLPI) Protocol.

The 31-year-old CNAO is a registered nurse by profession and has been the City Nutrition Action Officer of Tandag City for over four years, starting on January 2, 2018, until the present.

CNAO Geli is dedicated and committed to his functions and duties. He has attended different trainings about nutrition programs and implementation and became resource speaker of various webinars that promotes the same advocacy.

In terms of dealing with the people, his past experiences as an elected officer which exposed him to different fields and activities, became the strength that makes him believe that he can do more as the CNAO of the city.

As a City Nutrition Action Officer of Tandag City, Dr. Geli emphasizes scaling up nutrition intervention programs through mobilization of local government unit (LGU) and the involvement of media partners as strategies to ensure that the nutrition programs will be fully implemented. CNAO Geli is very hands-on during monitoring of programs at the barangay level as he prefers to go to the place to really see the situation. When the COVID-19 struck, an online platform (e.g., messenger, Facebook) and cellular phones to establish coordination and communication with the members of the Barangay Nutrition Committee and the City Nutrition Committee. And let not the pandemic be a hindrance to scale up nutrition.

In the past years, the nutrition situation of Tandag is getting better. This is the big accomplishment relayed by CNAO Geli when asked about his accomplishments. Indicators for stunting and wasting were tremendously reduced and showed a sustained downtrend below the World Health Organization cut off.

Additionally, the practical and efficient strategies lined up under the leadership of CNAO Geli provided an opportunity to capture and implement national programs and advocacy.

The conduct of MELLPI with the members of the Regional Nutrition Evaluation Team ensures to give recommendations not just for the improvement of CNAO Geli but also for the advancement of programs implemented in the City of Tandag. # ReaR.Bacalso/NASLabordo