13 December 2021, Cagayan de Oro City – The local government units (LGUs) of Initao, Medina and Talisayan, Misamis Oriental participated in a face-to-face workshop facilitated by the National Nutrition Council (NNC) Region X, which was held 6-7 December 2021 at Sophie Red Hotel, Jasaan, Misamis Oriental.
The activity is part of the ongoing provision of technical assistance to LGUs to beef up local plans and budgets for improved nutrition outcomes.
A total of 12 participants attended the workshop composed of Municipal Nutrition Committee (MNC) members, of which the Nutrition Division of LGU Misamis Oriental and the Nutritionist-Dietitians under the Human Resource for Health (HRH) of the Department of Health also acted as facilitators.
In his Opening Remarks, Kagawad on Health Melchor “Roy” Corrales of LGU Medina expressed his hopes that the workshop will be able to help them improve their Local Nutrition Action Plan (LNAP) so they will be able to help better their constituents.
Nutrition Officer (NO) I Liezel Joy D. Reyes provided the group the overview of the workshop, which centered on the LGU mobilization strategy, and the workshop objectives.
As all three LGUs have non- to partially functional MNCs, Ms. Gladys Mae S. Fernandez, Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator, discussed the roles of the MNC. She stressed that nutrition requires collaborative efforts of various offices and stakeholders.
The session was followed by NO III Sheena Marie G. Talle where she explained why LGUs should invest in nutrition, especially during the pandemic period. NO III Talle also justified the importance of planning for nutrition programs, projects, and activities. Such sessions required group work which will form part of their workshop outputs.
NO I Reyes discussed to the participants on how to estimate budgets for nutrition using the costing workbook provided by NNC, as well as the template for re-entry planning.
The participants were given time to accomplish the worksheets for the various sessions with the assistance and guidance of the facilitators.
A Socials Night was also held, themed Fitness/Zumba, facilitated by the HRH-NDs.
The second day of the workshop was dedicated for the continuation of workshop, presentation of outputs, synthesis, and closing program.
Each LGU was able to present their assigned outputs for presentation, which includes the assessment checklists for the local development plans and LNAPs, costing workbooks, and re-entry plans. After which, the facilitators gave their inputs to the documents presented.
NO III Talle summarized the two-day workshop and presented the activity synthesis, and next steps. The LGUs are expected to execute the planned activities identified in their re-entry plans, while the Provincial Nutrition Division will be in-charge of the monitoring and follow-up.
The NNC X and the HRH-NDs, together with the provincial LGU, committed to continuously provide technical assistance to the LGUs. (NO III Sheena Marie G. Talle)
