NEPAL NUTRITION AND FOOD SECURITY PORTAL
On December 15, 2022, the National Planning Commission (NPC) organized a one-day “Result Framework Workshop” at Hotel Yellow Pagoda, Kathmandu Nepal in the process to guide the formulation of a Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Plan-III (2023-2030). The key objectives of the workshop were:
Nearly eighty participants from sectoral ministries, UN agencies (UNICEF Nepal, WHO), other development partners (USAID)), relevant stakeholders (Save the Children, ACF), civil society organizations, academia, and experts participated in a “Result framework Workshop” to support Government of Nepal in drafting the third phase of Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan. The workshop was chaired by Mr. Kewal Prasad Bhandari, Secretary of the National Planning Commission.
Mr. Kewal Prasad Bhandari, Secretary of the National Planning Commission sharing his remarks.
Ms. Sushila Panth, Planning Officer, NPC welcomed the participants and briefly highlighted the objectives of the workshop. In her welcome remarks, she updated about the two previous workshops- Deprivation and Causality Analysis Workshop and Theory of Change Workshop- that were held in the process of drafting MSNP-III and acknowledged the contributions of the participants in the earlier workshops. She urged participants to bring forth constructive and innovative ideas during the group discussion and enrich the Result Framework with their invaluable contributions like previous workshops. Following this, Mr. Kewal Prasad Bhandari, Secretary, NPC shared his initial thoughts, advice, and remarks with the intent to make the workshop productive. He advised participants to critically think while scaling up the nutrition interventions. He pointed out that considerable progress has been made in reducing malnutrition in Nepal, however, nutrition status and food security situation, particularly among specific groups of the population, continue to remain poor despite the many developmental changes in the governance system, infrastructure among others in the country over these years. Referring to the incident of Swamikartik Khapar Rural Municipality of Bajura district about serious issues of malnutrition, he opined that variation in nutritional outcomes has existed by socioeconomic and demographic status across different parts of Nepal and thus emphasized the need to prioritize equitable investment in nutrition and food security over other physical and infrastructure development in a way that malnutrition no longer continues to remain an issue beyond 2030 across the social gradient. He expressed his gratitude for the contribution made by sectoral ministries, development partners, and other stakeholders in the drafting the of MSNP-III and requested all the participants to provide their honest and critical comments to finetune the Result Framework.
The technical session followed through after the remarks from the secretary. Dr. Rajendra BC led the session and delivered a presentation on three sub-topics: 1. ToC of six sectors (Health, Education, WASH, Agriculture and Livestock, Women and Children, Governance) and the consolidated ToC. 2. Key concept of Result Framework and its development 3. Result Framework of MSNP-III (Draft). During his presentation, he also shared the proposed Vision and Goal of MSNP-III aiming to get feedback and input from the participants on the vision and goal statement.
After Dr. BC’s presentation, group work was initiated. Six thematic groups were formed to get input and feedback on the draft Result Framework (RF) in line with sectoral ToC. Dr. Rajendra BC provided guidance and instructions for working in a group and expected the group to review the ToC, indicators, targets, and other components of RF. Intensive discussion took place for about three hours within six different groups for reviewing the framework and its indicators of different sectors. Following the group discussion, each group made its presentation and shared the RF of the individual sector.
After six presentations, an open floor discussion took place to obtain overall feedback and comments from cross-sectors on the presentation and overall process of MSNP-III formulation. Dr. Kiran Rupakhetee, Joint Secretary, Good Governance and Social Development Division, NPC, and SUN Country Coordinator facilitated the open floor discussion. Some of the key concerns highlighted by the participants were: ensure alignment and coherence between ToC and Result Framework; include 3-5 (maximum) indicators for different levels of results, revise proposed vision and goal, ensure mainstreaming of MSNP into sectoral as well as subnational government’s policies and plans, explore and provide the space for private sector engagement in MSNP-III among others.
Dr. Kiran Rupakhetee, Joint Secretary, Good Governance and Social Development Division, NPC, and SUN Country Coordinator summarizing the key takeways during the workshop.
After half an hour of plenary discussion, Dr. Kiran summarized the key takeaways of the workshop and stated that the workshop essentially group was pivotal that provided invaluable inputs to further attune ToC and Result Framework. He said that NPC has realized the need to develop a robust M&E Framework and Human Resource Capacity Development Plan for MSNP-III, which was not adequately incorporated in two previous plans, and informed that initial work to this end has been started. Also, he welcomed the honest feedback and comments provided by the participants to further fine-tune the plan to make it more actionable and relevant for all sectors and all levels of government and assured to accommodate and include specific and relevant comments.
He concluded his remarks by expressing his deep gratitude towards sectoral ministries, development partners, and all other stakeholders for their remarkable contribution to reducing the prevalence of different forms of malnutrition in children referring to the results shown by the recent Nepal Demographic Health Survey 2022. He acknowledged the inputs, comments, and suggestions from workshop participants and thanked every member involved to make the workshop fruitful and productive. He announced the closure of the workshop informing that the consolidated ToC and Result Framework of MSNP-III will be finalized based on feedback from the workshop.
Photo gallery:
Members of Women and Children sector discussing on Result Framework during the workshop
Group work Members of Health sector (in the front) and Agriculture and Livestock Sector discussing on Result Framework during Group work
Members of Governace sector discussing on Result Framework during Group work
Presentation of Result Framework of Governace sector by Mr. Janak Raj Sharma,Undersecretary, MoFAGA
Presentation of Result Framework of Health sector by Mr.Lila Bikram Thapa, Chief, Nutrition Section, MoHP
