Stories
July 15, 2021 • 2 min read
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan face hunger and malnutrition. In particular, this affects young children and other vulnerable groups.
Our GOALies have been fighting malnutrition in Sudan since 2012. The Nutrition Impact and Positive Practice (NIPP) Approach has been key in directing them in their work.
Delegates from numerous organisations attending the launch event in Khartoum, April 2021
The positive impact of this practice on the ground led the Federal Ministry of Health to establish a NIPP Technical Advisory Services (NTAS) in partnership with GOAL back in 2018. The aim of the NTAS was to build the capacity of nutritionists, developmental practitioners, State and Locality authorities as well as national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to put the NIPP approach into practice and effective to address malnutrition.
Recently a set of guidelines based on NIPP principles have also been developed. This document was approved by the Federal Ministry of Health for use across Sudan and translated into Arabic for more wider use.
National Nutrition Program Director at Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Mohamed Abumanga, speaking at the launching event in Khartoum in April 2021
The launching event of the guidelines took place on the 8th April 2021 in Khartoum and was a huge success. It was attended by over 100 participants including delegates from the government, national and international NGOs, UN agencies and the donor community. At the launch, participants reminded of the importance of the NIPP approach and highlighted it’s focus on community-based and sustainable practices.
GOAL Sudan’s Country Director Dawit Beyene said “I want to thank all those who collaborated to make this possible. We will now have more resources and capacity to reach even more people, particularly young children, and pregnant and lactating mothers.”
“Our team in Sudan has been working tirelessly in the area of nutrition and food security since 2012.”
Nutrition Impact and Positive Practice (NIPP)
Delegates from numerous organisations attending the launch event in Khartoum, April 2021
The new guidelines and increased collaboration with the Sudanese Ministry of Health will boost GOAL’s capacity, as well as many others, to help most effectively those who are in need.
In the last 9 years, over 9,000 people in Sudan have received direct support and 38,000 people have received indirect support from GOAL’s NIPP programmes in South Kordofan, North Darfur, Gadarif and Kassala States.
A programme that uses the NIPP approach combines several elements. It can include preventative and curative nutrition work that contributes to reducing malnutrition and targets children and pregnant and lactating women. The highlight of the programme is that it applies a gendered lens, works with people from the grass-roots and focuses on addressing malnutrition on the long-term. It focuses on the cross-sectoral underlying behaviours that cause malnutrition.
These programmes can be implemented as stand-alone projects or in addition to existing projects. Combining NIPP programmes with projects on Food Security and Livelihoods, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Primary Health Care and many others can bring us a step closer towards ending malnutrition.
