Global Nutrition Crisis Demands Immediate Action
We are thrilled to share that the Civil Society Declaration on the N4G Paris Summit 2025 – Call to Action has been endorsed by over 152 organizations, representing thousands of nutrition advocates, practitioners, frontline workers, and more. As a reminder, this declaration calls on world leaders to: Prioritize people, particularly women, girls, and marginalized communities. Protect and increase financing for nutrition, ensuring alignment with national priorities. Ensure accountability through transparent, well-funded mechanisms. Center nutrition in crisis response and long-term development. Regulate the private sector, prioritizing public health over profit.
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Facilitation and communication skill training
Facilitation and communication skill are very important to conduct dialogue session effectively and efficiently. Cognizing this, Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) organized and conducted training from 2-6 April,2025 at Bishoftu. A total 26 (4 women) participants from three regions, Afar, Tigray and Somali, engaged in the training. Training participants were implementers and supporters of ECSC-SUN Women Economic Empowerment and Adolescent initiative (WEE& AI) intervention. The intervention focused on food production, consumption and practice change in the household feeding. The adolescent nutrition intervention is highly focused to reach out in and out school adolescent groups. The intervention is under implementation by using existing platforms within the schools ( gender , health and sanitation, Nutrition clubs…) and out of school adolescent groups established by Save the Children Gender Equality Project (GEP) . Capacity building, school gardening, and Social and Behavioral Change Communications (SBCC) gender and nutrition are among the intervention component underway with detailed activities. Gender Model Family (GMF) is an approach identified and employed with the objective to promote positive gender norms and address food taboos affecting adolescent groups nutrition status . The social behavioral change intervention expected to be achieved through GMF approach demands to employ multiple approaches including organizing regular dialogue session. The dialogue session is deemed to be managed through organizing subsequent discussion on different adolescent focused nutrition and gender message developed by ECSC-SUN secretariat team. The dialogue session is expected to facilitate by Woreda stakeholders and implementing partners in the regions: Mums for Mums for Tigray and Amref Health Africa for Afar. To enhance the stakeholders and implementing partners facilitation and communication skill, a three-day training was organized and conducted by ECSC-SUN secretariat. Basic communication skills, listening skills, message development Facilitator’s role, facilitation principles were among the contents of the training. The training was interactive, practical that enhance participants knowledge and skill on how to develop adolescent
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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.
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Ethiopian 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
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Earning 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.
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Nutrition 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.
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Oromia region ECSC-SUN support plat form launched
Oromia region ECSC-SUN support plat form launching wor kshop held with the presence of higher officials. Ethiopia Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) is striving to improve nutrition status of the country. As a coalition it has supported the country’s initiative to end malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. ECSC-SUN has established support platforms in different regions including Oromia region. Her excellency Professor Netsanet Workeneh, Oromia regional health bureau head, made opening remark on the Oromia support platform launching workshop. On her speech she emphasized the impact of malnutrition on children health and growth in the region. She underscored that the regional government is committed to avert the problem working in collaboration with Civil Society Organizations. Collaborative efforts can make difference in maternal and child nutrition according to Mr. Abebe, ECSC-SUN National lead. He explained that the civil society organization’s role is undeniable in capacity building and other aspects of food and nutrition strategy implementation. Action against hunger, ECSC-SUN regional platform leading in Oromia, is facilitated workshop in collaboration with regional food system and nutrition coordination office. Action against hunger continues as the chair of the steering committee and Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekanyesus Development and Social Services Commission is selected as co- chair for steering committee in the regional platform.
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ECSC-SUN quality standards introduced
Satisfaction can be measured by the service quality one receives from an office. To enhance the satisfaction of nutrition actors and their respective customers, quality service delivery system is very important. Bringing the members of Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up nutrition (ECSC-SUN) secretariat and steering committee to the same level of understanding on quality benchmarks and accountability system, a three-day training was organized. 14 coalition members participated on the training that held at Adama, from 26-28 June 2024. The training topics were monitoring, evaluation, accountability and quality benchmarking. During the training workshop, ECSC-SUN quality standards introduced to participants. Moreover, ECSC-SUN quality benchmark activities have been reviewed and commented. According to the participants, the training was important and millstone for their future activities and life as well.
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