SUN Countries

El_Salvador

Joined Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement

September 2012

National multi-stakeholder platform for nutrition

Crecer Juntos [Growing Together] Intersectoral Technical Roundtable for Early Childhood, chaired by the Office of the First Lady

Sun Government Focal Point/Country Coordinator

Lic. Elisa Gamero, Coordinator of Health and Nutrition Projects of the Office of the First Lady, Presidency of the Republic - Office of the First Lady

Country nutrition status 2022

Yes
In process
No
Costed
M&E framework

National multi-stakeholder platform (MSP)

Date established

2012

MSP annual action plan exists

National nutrition plan

Advocacy and communications framework/plan

Subnational nutrition coordination mechanism

Subnational MSPs exist

Subnational MSPs have annual action plans

SUN networks in-country presence

SUN Civil Society Network

SUN Business Network

UN-Nutrition

SUN Academy Network

SUN Donor Network

Others: e.g. youth, parliamentarian, media

Finance for nutrition

Resource mobilization strategy exists

Budget tracking exercise done this year

Funding gaps identified this year

Domestic expenditures on nutrition tracked

Country priorities 2022

Implement the Love Converted into Food Law and its regulations; Implement the National Nutrition Strategy; Bolster multisectoral platforms for the development of the SAS Roadmap

2022 Shared country good practice

Regulatory framework in favour of Early Childhood

Align stakeholders around a common national plan

A regulatory framework has been implemented to guarantee access to health care for children from gestation to 8 years of age.

Progress towards SUN 3.0 Strategic Objectives (SO)

SO.1

The First Lady promoted the consolidation of the political and regulatory framework to improve nutritional status throughout the life cycle, with an emphasis on early childhood, based on the Growing Together policy. This framework implements the Born with Love Law and the Love Converted into Food Law. These groundbreaking regulations have had positive effects in reducing maternal mortality and reducing causes directly related to pregnancy: Eight out of ten newborns start breastfeeding within the first hour of life; and chronic malnutrition in children under 5 years of age has decreased, from 13.6 per cent (MICS 2014) to 10 per cent (National Health Survey 2021). The design of a National Nutrition Strategy was also completed to reach out to the communities.

SO.2

To comply with and continue the Growing Together Policy, the Early Childhood regulatory framework has been bolstered: the Growing Together Law for the Comprehensive Protection of Early Childhood, Childhood and Adolescence, which establishes the right to a dignified life so that everyone has a balanced diet and nutrition for their optimal development; the Born with Love Law for a Respectful Childbirth and Affectionate and Sensitive Care for the Newborn, which encourages, supports, and protects breastfeeding for the nutrition of babies; and the Love Converted into Food Law for the Promotion, Protection and Support of Breastfeeding, which guarantees this right from the first hour of life, exclusively during the first six months and complementarily up to 2 years of age.

SO.3

To enhance skills in the application of national regulations such as the Born with Love Law, the Love Converted into Food Law and the Growing Together Law, a training plan has been developed through face-to-face and virtual courses. More than 16,000 people have been trained, including health personnel, early childhood teachers, early childhood educators, managers and pedagogical technical assistants, volunteers from Child Development Centres and Child Well-Being Centres, Culture and Sports personnel, local rights committees, council workers, and prosecutors and judges, among others. Guidelines, protocols and tools have been provided on a virtual platform, while the infrastructure for health and nutrition training has been equipped and improved.

SO.4

The regulations implemented to promote early childhood development are a national obligation and, in addition, involve a process accompanied by different stakeholders in society. Mentoring, consultation and accountability spaces have been generated in order to bolster the response capacity for the implementation of actions. Sources of funding that have been considered for these actions include state funds, external debt and associations and partnerships with civil society, international cooperation and the private sector.