Ecuador to celebrate nutrition champions throughout its municipalities

As part of its efforts to step up the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement’s multisectoral and multi-stakeholder approach, the Ecuador Technical Secretariat to combat chronic childhood malnutrition has launched an initiative to award nutrition champions from among local authorities.

To encourage the fulfillment of the objectives linked to the prevention and reduction of chronic childhood malnutrition, Ecuador will recognize municipalities that socialize those objectives through community participation and that institutionalize normative mechanisms aimed at advancing the nutrition agenda.

The SUN Movement encourages countries to build the systems needed to tackle malnutrition through collaboration among diverse groups and advocacy initiatives to ensure that laws are passed and programmes implemented.

“It is energizing to see how countries such as Ecuador are breaking down boundaries between sectors and stakeholders at the local level and developing a systems approach to nutrition, with the aim of raising awareness, preventing and reducing chronic child malnutrition, and making visible the role of local authorities,” said Ms Francisca Gomez, SUN Movement Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean.

“One of the strengths of the SUN Movement is its encouragement of the sharing of experiences among SUN member countries,” she added. “The recognition program being undertaken in Ecuador was inspired by a similar approach led by Peru.” 

This initiative has been shared with all 221 municipalities in Ecuador, and a review of the progress against the indicators of success is currently underway. The awards ceremony is slated to take place in late November.

For more information, please refer to: https://www.infancia.gob.ec/galardon-por-una-infancia-con-futuro/