Cebu City -- With the opportunities provided by the increased local government revenues brought by the Mandanas-Garcia ruling, the annual AIP Workshops for Nutrition that was organized by the National Nutrition Council Region VII has included a special workshop on the inclusion of nutrition in LGU’s devolution transition plan (DTP). 

With 32 local government units (LGUs) from all over Central Visayas as attendees, the week-long blended workshops conducted on 18-25 October 2021 has not only produced nutrition inputs for the LGU’s respective 2022 Annual Investment Programs (AIPs) but also inputs to their devolution transition plans as well. 

Focusing on ensuring that nutrition is well supported and funded in the predictably busy election year next year, the programs, projects, and activities included in the AIP had been more focused on sustaining investments to the nutrition program. 

The DTPs, on the other hand, has not only ensured an increase in nutrition investment by providing a list of priority programs, projects and activities, it has also emphasized the nutrition enabling mechanisms, particularly on the setup of local nutrition offices and the hiring of staff support. 

This year also marks the first time the NNC 7 has made use of online classrooms in facilitating both technical inputs for the workshop and in the submission of workshop outputs. Aside from the processing meetings conducted, LGUs can conduct their workshops on their own time. 

As the first year of devolution transition, 2022 is said to be the best year to include nutrition programs for LGU investment for better chances of funding. The Regional Nutrition Committee thus urges the local nutrition committees to strengthen nutrition support and has passed a regional policy to guide LGUs (see RNC Resolution No. 2021-03). //NO III Nasudi G. Soluta, RND