The second year of the NNC coordinated Early Childhood Care and Development in the 1st 1000 Days (ECCD-F1K) Program has put in full action the implementation of various program components that will provide continuum of care and services for the child in the first 1000 days from pregnancy of the mother to the child’s second birthday.
To ensure that the planned activities will be fully implemented as scheduled within the given timeframe, a Joint Meeting of ECCD F1K Zamboanga del Sur Provincial and Municipal Core Groups was organized and facilitated by the National Nutrition Council Region 9 with the aim of identifying issues and barriers affecting timely program implementation. The meeting was held on 3 May 2018 at the Hotel Guillermo, Pagadian City. The meeting was attended by the core groups of the ECCD F1K Program sites namely Aurora, Kumalarang and Mahayag as well as the Provincial focal persons of the program. Composing the core groups were the heads of offices from the health, Agriculture, Social Welfare & Development, Accounting office and the Nutrition Action Officers.
Presiding the meeting was the Nutrition Program Coordinator of the National Nutrition Council Region IX Ms. Maria del Pilar Pamela R. Tarroza assisted by Mr. Elton Pelegrino the Provincial Coordinator of the ECCD F1K Program. The meeting enabled to clarify matters and practices in handling the procurement and implementation of projects. Issues that are seemingly posing as deterrent in attaining the program output were assessed and recommendation were expressed on how to address the problems.
Among the components of the program that was most discussed was the Home and Community Food Production (HCFP) program particularly on the procurement of the garden and animal dispersal inputs. The presence of Mr. Albert R. Cuadra, Agriculturist II with the High Value Crops Development Unit of the Department of Agriculture, enriched the discussions by sharing his experiences on procurement and sourcing of the material needs for the Home & Community Food Production Program.
The meeting provided venue for the LGUs to learn and appreciate how each of them implemented the program. Good practices and experiences serve as models that could be adopted by them. The meeting promoted a sense of urgency among the implementers to expedite the procurement processes to fully implement the projects and meet the deadline for the utilization of project funds by 15 May.
