New video showcases the nutrition funding work underway in Nepal and Uganda

In July 2015, a new video was released through Secure Nutrition, a World Bank Knowledge Platform, to showcase nutrition budgeting work that has been taking place since 2013. The USAID funded global nutrition project, Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING), has been working with country partners to provide the first comprehensive estimates of budgeted nutrition funding in Nepal and Uganda

Accurate tracking of financial commitments can improve nutrition planning, advocacy and implementation, yet, the multi-sectoral nature of nutrition makes it very complicated to track investments. This new work started by SPRING, builds on the SUN 3-Step Process, and is aligning with the SUN Budget Analysis Exercise that began in January 2015 with a “Call of Interest” to SUN Countries who were interested in accelerating efforts to report on nutrition-relevant budget allocations.

SPRING’s work, which will conclude in 2016, breaks down budget allocations in Uganda and Nepal by sector, funding source, objective area and over time. This will allow both governments to assess their nutrition funding and alignment with national goals and help to increase country capacity for planning and advocacy. This work is being completed under SPRING’s Pathways to Better Nutrition study where they are working closely with Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister and Nepal’s National Planning Commission. A mixed method approach is being used to compile multiple years of national-level estimates that include:

• all six nutrition-relevant sectors named by the national nutrition action plans (NNAPs)
• government, on-budget donor, and off-budget donor funds
• nutrition-specific vs. nutrition-sensitive funds
• breakdowns by NNAP objective areas
• triangulated data on the “why” and “how” of nutrition funding commitments from government, donor, UN, CSO, academia, and private sector
• district-level estimates of funding in a few selected districts in each country

For nutrition, like any national challenge, sufficient, sustained funding is needed to address the issue and this work will provide a great step forward in understanding of the complex and multi-sectoral nature of nutrition activities.

Learn more about this work: Secure Nutrition
Learn more about the SUN Country Budget Tracking: SUN Budget Analysis Exercise