Experience sharing visit
Ethiopian Civil Societies Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC SUN) has been implementing Women Economic Empowerment and Adolescent Initiative (WEE & AI) intervention in Tigray, Afar and Somali regions. This WEE & AI is intended to promote Gender equality through women empowerment for better nutrition outcome. That is why the project focused on women and provided vegetable seedlings, dairy goat/sheep and agricultural hand tools last year. Using the provided skill and input target groups are trying to produce nutritious food, to consume diversified food and to change feeding practice. There are differences in the agroecology of the regions, working culture of the community and commitment of the implementing partners. Accordingly, their performance varies among the intervention areas. To facilitate learning from one to another, experience sharing visit was arranged in Tigray region, Kelete Awlalo) woreda, Wukero area. During the visit, demonstration of school gardening was observed in Tahitay Hade Qesanded primary school. Then three of the project participants’ home gardening was visited. Target groups in Tigray produced vegetable using small plot of land and plastic bags for vertical farming methods. They used natural fertilizer to boost the productivity of fruit and vegetable. Not only consume what they have produced, they also earned money by selling the execs product. Preparing diversified food and feeding their children nutritious food helped target groups to maintain their children’s health and growth. They have money saving mechanisms like Ekub that helps them to start poultry production by their own effort, using saved money. Not only that, but they also used home grown technology to construct/build chicken coop. After the visit through discussion held and experience shared. According to the visiting team from Afar and Somali, they are inspired with what they have observed. They plan to transfer the knowledge and skill they got from the visit to their communities as get back home. As to the visitors, social and behavioral change communication works are highly needed to use resources properly in their respective villages.
Read MoreRefresher training rendered
Ethiopian Civil Societies Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC SUN) successfully completed skill and knowledge training, which was rendered at Mekelle town from February 5-7,2025. ECSC SUN has been implementing Women Economic Empowerment and Adolescent Initiative (WEE & AI) intervention in 3 regions. This pilot project is intended to accelerate change in food production and consumption in Tigray, Afar and Somali regions. The project is aligned and implemented in collaboration with Save the Children Gender Equality Program (GEP) in Afar and Somali as well as Mums for Mums in Tigray regions. To upgrade capacity of GEP staff, Government sectors and implementing partners involved in WEE and AI, the training is organized. This training has covered components like basic nutrition, adolescent nutrition and home gardening. Actors engaged in the project implantation have multi-disciplinary background and inconsistent understanding on the intersection between gender and nutrition. As a result, during previous fiscal year some implementation gaps were observed. According to participants, the training enabled all actors in process be on same page, improve quality of implementation and, avoid deviation that may arise due to knowledge and skill gap. The training helps not only to equipped with home gardening skill, but also to share knowledge and experience among trainees. It is recalled that, the first phase training was delivered on May 2024 at Beshoftu. #ECSC-SUN
Read MoreEthiopia Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) conducted its steering committee meeting.
The ECSC-SUN steering committee was established in December 2014 chaired by Save the Children Ethiopia and co-chaired by Concern Worldwide. By then, the coalition had identified thematic focus areas and assigned lead agencies. In the meantime, cascading national structure, regional ECSC-SUN chapter was organized, support platforms formed. Those support platform were assigned with the agencies engagement in either of the nutrition specific or sensitive sectors. For instance, Mums for Mums, local NGO, assigned to lead the Tigray regional ECSC-SUN platform and Concern Worldwide to lead the Amhara regional support platform while Care Ethiopia for Gender thematic focus. In the recent steering committee meeting regional and thematic leads presented their progress updates and future actions. According to the reports, coalition members agencies provided technical and financial support for the Food and Nutrition Strategy (FNS) implementation in their respective regions. In addition, they had conducted familiarization and sensitization workshops on FNS and the role of civil society organizations for the implementing partners. Most of the regional lead agencies developed and endorsed ToR, conducted gap assessment, mapped CSOs in their respective regions, selected stakeholders and steering committee members. Furthermore, coalition members provided capacity building to the regional FNS implementing partners, as to the report. Registering ECSC-SUN as legal entity is one of the future actions set in the meeting.
Read MoreEthiopian Scaling Up Nutrition Movement conducted Consultation Workshop.
The objective of the workshop is to validate the government of Ethiopia Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Paris 2025 Commitment among stakeholders. Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) is part of the consultation workshop held on January 15 – 16, 2025 at Hyatt Regency Hotel. Coalition members presented agendas of commitments. For instance, stunting (under five and under two) by Action Against Hunger (ACF) and CARE; exclusive breast-feeding by ECSC-SUN secretariat and anemia by Nutrition International (NI). After the presentation, interactive session held among participants. The discussion yields valuable feedback and new insight. #ECSC-SUN # N4G #SUN GLOBAL
Read MoreMekelle’s Sensitization Workshop
Tigray Kelete Awlalo wereda is one of intervention areas of Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) Women Economic Empowerment and Adolescent Initiative (WEE & AI). To sensitize stakeholders in the ECSC-UN WEE & AI intervention a one-day workshop was organized at Mekelle planet Hotel on December 12, 2024. The aim of the event is to discuss current project progress, annual plans, stakeholder roles, and program sustainability. Participants, from regional and woreda government stakeholders, actively engaged in the discussion and reached consensus to closely collaborate to make the program sustainable. Sense of ownership and collaboration among the stakeholders and target group commitment are good indicators to end malnutrition in all its forms!
Read MoreEarning money from homestead garden
Project participant women living in Tigray Kelete Awlalo woreda are producing vegetable in homestead garden and consuming their product. Not only consume what they produced in small plot of land and vertical farming technique but also, they earn money by selling the excessive products. For instance, Nigisti Abrha is one of the target women earns more than 2 thousand Birrs within past 6 month by selling cabbage and vegetable seedling. Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) has a pilot project focused on women empowerment. Through women economic empowerment and adolescent initiative intervention, ECSC-SUN plans to improve household nutrition status in three regions: Tigray, Afar and Somali. To assess the implementation progress of the project, ECSC-SUN secretariat conducted visit to project area Tigray, Kelete Awlalo. Project participant women conducted cocking and feeding demonstrations for visiting team. They used vegetable (cabbage, tomato), animal products(egg) and pulse to produce nutritious dense food for children and adults separately. The team consists of regional and woreda Food and Nutrition implementing sectors, ECSC-SUN secretariat, Mums for Mums (MfM) Save the children Tigray office. The team appreciate the progress and encourage the women’s effort. The woreda multi sectorial coordination is clearly seen in this project. Health, agriculture, water and women affair sectors collaborate to support the beneficiaries to produce, consume and to bring attitudinal change regarding women and children feeding practice. These coordination and commitment are best indicators for the sustainability of the piloted project.
Read MoreECSC-SUN secretariat conducted visit to Afar
The aim of the visit is to observe the Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) Women Economic Empowerment and Adolescence Initiative (WEE & AI) intervention progress. The visiting team oversees the impact of knowledge gained through training and outcome of the distributed resources as well as practical actions taken by target beneficiaries with an emphasis on the added value to household nutrition. As WEE & AI intervention, target beneficiaries living in #Afar #Asayita, have been provided skill training, 40 milking goats for 20 women, vegetable seeds (onion, tomato, pepper, and cabbage) for 10 households per their preference. In addition, agricultural hand tools (Hoe, shovel, watering can, fork,) and fruit seedlings (500 Mango, 400 Orange) have been provided to Hameltole Primary schools. Now, target beneficiaries are producing milk from the goat and feed their children. The school gardening activity is in good progress. For instance, in Hameltole school the seedling is ready to transplant to the gardening area. Adolescents in school club presented drama to the visitors. Their edutainment technique was powerful to address nutritional messages like child feeding practice, food restriction norm, hand hygiene and gender equality. The community was not familiar with consuming some food items. Through training, knowledge sharing and social and behavior change intervention, now beneficiary groups started to eat egg in a roosted form. ECSC-SUN and implementing partner #Amref Health Africa, Gender Equality Project at #Save the children Semera field office and government sectors like #agriculture, #health and #women affair worked closely to bring these positive changes. The visiting team appreciated the progress and joint efforts !
Read MoreNutrition leaders forum
The 6th Ethiopia Nutrition Leaders Network (ENLN) annual forum conducted with the theme “Nutrition Leadership Towards Resilience and Climate Change Actions for Nutrition in Ethiopia” on Nov. 23, 2024. Hiwot Darsene, Lead Executive Officer, Nutrition Coordination Office and Member of the ENLN made the opening speech with her representative, Yonatan. The government of Ethiopia is implementing the food and nutrition strategy to improve the resilience of vulnerable pregnant and lactating women and children under 2 years of age. In her speech, she emphasized on malnutrition – infection cycle. Climate induced undernutrition leads to increase in disease related childhood mortality and morbidity. According to, Ms Dragana Strinic, Country Director at Save the Children Ethiopia Country Office and Chair of Ethiopia Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN), children have been impacted by the climate crisis which threatens their health, nutrition, education, development, survival and future. In her keynote remark, she highlighted that impactful leadership is pivotal in reducing such climate-induced food system and nutrition challenges. The founder and chair of ENLN, Israel Hailu, reaffirms nutrition leaders’ commitment, and the network works closely with all food system and nutrition actors to make Ethiopia free from hunger and malnutrition. She also calls up on all nutrition leaders to further commit and provide the required voluntary support to the country’s effort until we achieve unfinished nutrition agenda in Ethiopia. It is recalled that Hidar 14 (November 23) is the date that Ethiopian Government endorsed the first ever Food and Nutrition Policy. To commemorate this day and make it a national Nutrition Security Day nutrition leaders make their annual forum. Representatives from food and nutrition implementing sectors, research institutions, donors and nutrition communities attended the event physically as well as virtually. The event includes speeches, presentations, networking and panel discussion, ECSC-SUN provided technical and financial support to make this colorful event happen.
Read MorePlanning workshop completed
ECSC-SUN and implementing partners plan alignment workshop was successfully completed. The ECSC-SUN secretariat held its annual plan alignment workshop with implementing partners from November 8-9, 2024, at the Robi Hotel in Adama. Attendees included representatives from Save the Children’s Award Office, Gender Equality Project (GEP) staff from Afar and Somali regions, and key implementing partners Amref Health Africa (Afar) and Mums for Mums (Tigray). The workshop aimed to synchronize each partner’s plans with ECSC-SUN’s strategic objectives for the upcoming fiscal year. Based on the secretariat annual plan, implementing partners drafted their plan and presented to the workshop participants. After through discussion, partners incorporated the feedback and produced refined aligned version of the plan. Each plan now includes specific budget allocations and a timeline for implementation. In addition, Essential donor compliance and reporting standards shared; financial and narrative reporting tips were given to participants to improve reporting quality and consistency. The workshop officially closed with closing remark. In his closing remark, Mr. Abebe Bimerew, ECSC-SUN National Lead emphasized revitalizing regional platforms key is the key priority in the annual plan, with a particular focus on Tigray. He urged regional leads to actively map Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in their areas and foster collaboration. He also emphasized the importance of early project initiation and timely reporting to achieve planed activities. ECSC-SUN has been implementing Irish aid funded project named “Enhancing Leadership, Commitment and Accountability to Improve Nutrition Outcomes”. GEP and implementing partners implementing Women Economic Empowerment and Adolescent Initiative (WEE&AI) intervention pilot project in three regions, Afar, Tigray and Somali, benefitted 90 target women.
Read MoreRegional Sensitization Workshop
The workshop aimed to sensitize Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on nutrition multisectoral integration in Central Ethiopia Region in Butajira Town. Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) secretariat participated in the workshop on October 30, 2024. It is recalled that ECSC-SUN General Assembly delegated The Hunger Project Ethiopia to coordinate the Central Ethiopia’s support platform. The workshop, financially supported by The Hunger Project Ethiopia, gathered key stakeholders from CSOs to discuss regional platform establishment. It was collectively decided that the official regional platform establishment workshop would be scheduled for the first week of December 2024. The ECSC-SUN Secretariat’s technical support was also formally requested to ensure the success of this upcoming event. # ECSC-SUN # TheHungerProjectEthiopia
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