On 5 May 2011, The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal joined the SUN Movement with a letter of committment from the Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Population. At the time, Nepal had established a multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral platform under the National Planning Commission, the highest planning level authority in the country.
In 2012, the Government of Nepal formed the National Nutrition and Food Security Coordination Committee, chaired by Honourable Member of the National Planning Commission (NPC). Key responsibilities of this Committee include the development of national strategy and plan under the policy direction, guidance of the High-Level Nutrition and Food Security Steering Committee (HLNFSSC), and provides guidance to sub-national committees. The involvement of civil society organisations in Nepal has been limited to the national level, particularly focusing on advocacy-related activities. No progress has been made regarding private sector engagement in nutrition.
Last updated: November 2017
Last updated: December 2016
The NNFSS is yet to be fully institutionalised, however, meetings among the multi-stakeholder groups are being held regularly and have resulted in substantial achievements. This includes Nepal’s Common Results Framework (CRF) for nutrition, the Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan (2013-2017) (MSNP) and the production of the Joint Multi-sector Advocacy & Communication Strategy. In addition to the coordinating structures, an academic platform and three multi-sectoral working groups (Capacity Development, Advocacy and Communication, Monitoring & Evaluation and Management Information System) have been established, in which United Nations (UN) agencies, donors, civil society groups and government officials are engaged.
A Media Network, which includes trained journalists, has been set up to scale up engagement throughout the country. The Civil Society Alliance for Nutrition Nepal (CSANN) was created in 2014 and a private sector platform is being planned.
The earthquakes in 2015 have caused widespread damage across the country. With the support of the international community, Nepal is recovering although the situation remains fragile. This has also impacted progress towards their scaling up nutrition efforts.
Last updated: October 2015
The issue of malnutrition is clearly reflected in national policy documents including the National Health Policy 2014, the Government’s Periodic Plan (2016-2018), and the National Health Sector Strategy (2015-2020). Existing laws, regulations and policies relevant to nutrition include the 1997 Food Act, the 1970 Food Regulation, the 1998 Iodised Salt Act, the 1992 Mother’s Milk Substitutes Act, the 1994 Mother’s Milk Substitutes Regulation, and the 1963 Breast Feeding Regulation. In 2016, the Government developed a costing framework “Costing of Gender Equality Instruments in Nepal” which is being implemented. The Golden 1,000 Days Public Awareness Campaign continued throughout 2016.
Last updated: November 2017
Last updated: December 2016
Last updated: October 2015
The Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan (MNSP) 2013-2017 is the umbrella document which covers most of the nutrition relevant multi-sectoral policies and regulations. The MSNP helps sectors in mainstreaming nutrition issues. Joint monitoring by sectoral line ministries has been conducted at central and district levels, however, it needs to be strengthened. The regular reporting system is in place – using a management information system – and functions at national and sub-national level. As part of decentralisation efforts, nutrition and food security steering committees have been established at the district, village development committee, and municipal levels. The Nepal Nutrition and Food Security Portal was established in 2014 and is functional, although not fully utilised by sectors and in need of regular updating.
Last updated: November 2017
Last updated: December 2016
The MSNP was launched in 2013 in six selected districts and will be expanded to 15 others in the future. Multi-sectoral plans at district level have been established and district level coordination committees have been set up to monitor the implementation. Training courses have been conducted in the MSNP pilot districts in 2014 and 2015. A WASH Master Plan was developed and completed in 2014.
Last updated: October 2015
A financial tracking system is in place, for which the NPC has been taking a lead role. The NPC also advocates for a nutrition budget coding system, which will facilitate the tracking of budget allocations for nutrition. A costing assessment method is in place in the Ministry of Health, which allows assessment of the financial status of nutrition-specific interventions (TABUCS: Transaction Accounting and Budget Control System). A common tool is used to prepare annual programme and budget (LMBIS: Line Ministry Budget Information System).
Last updated: November 2017
Last updated: December 2016
Last updated: October 2015
Radha Krishna Pradhan
Joint Secretary, National Planning Commission Secretariat
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