A&T response
Alive &Thrive (A&T) draws upon scientific evidence, assessments of IYCF practices, and programmatic experience globally and in Bangladesh. The comprehensive program strategy includes these elements: policy dialogue, community-based and media activities, promotion of a micronutrient powder to fortify home foods and handwashing before feeding young children, and rigorous monitoring and evaluation.
Strategy 1. Policy dialogue
A&T is advocating to increase IYCF investments from donors, NGOs, and the Government of Bangladesh and to secure commitments to implement national-level policies and regulations that support good IYCF practices.
Action plan
- Engage national policymakers and district and community leaders in dialogue and forums on the social and economic impact of undernutrition
- Create a group of respected national journalists to garner support for IYCF investments and policy implementation through journalist training and fellowships
- Recruit and train IYCF and nutrition champions from professional associations and the medical community
Strategy 2. Community-based and media activities
By the end of the project (2013), Alive & Thrive aims to reach households with children under 2 years of age through community-based interventions in about 100 sub-districts. The reach of the program will be extended through a national mass media campaign and collaboration with other stakeholders.
Community model
A&T is reaching out to the community through BRAC’s health programs and its vast network of frontline workers. Alive & Thrive is also working with Save the Children to strengthen IYCF in its maternal and newborn health program.
Action plan
- Strengthen the skills and performance of frontline workers through incentives and capacity building to ensure quality, efficient, and equitable services supportive of IYCF practices
- Reach families with timely and accurate IYCF messages and support for improved practices through counseling during antenatal care, home visits, and small group discussions
- Conduct forums to mobilize religious and community leaders, village elders, school teachers, and youth to build awareness about nutrition and IYCF in their communities
Watch a video with clips from training video for community health workers.
Communication
In collaboration with UNICEF and the Institute of Public Health Nutrition, A&T is supporting a national IYCF communications plan using multiple channels of communication, including:
- Forums for national stakeholder coordination to harmonize messages and engage new partners
- Six TV spots, six radio spots, and films on breastfeeding and complementary feeding featuring Meena, the popular cartoon character
- Print materials for health workers, decision makers, schools, and non-formal education learning centers
- Newspaper articles to reach the general public
Read more about the national IYCF communications strategy.
Strategy 3. Partnerships
A&T is working in collaboration with government agencies, national and international NGOs, and the private sector. These partnerships spread across multiple sectors to increase scale. They focus on:
- Handwashing initiatives linked with complementary feeding
- Promotion of micronutrient powders to address the micronutrient gap in children’s diets and reduce anemia
- Mobile phone technology in support of IYCF
- IYCF education in public and private academic institutions
Strategy 4. Monitoring and evaluation
A&T will evaluate the impact of the program strategies as well as the process for delivering the interventions.
Action Plan
- Conduct a baseline survey in rural areas in 2010 of 2,100 children in Alive & Thrive sub-districts and 2,100 in non-A&T sub-districts and an endline survey in 2013
- Evaluate the impact of the A&T community activities on IYCF practices, stunting, and anemia
- Study the impact of A&T on different stages of the policy process, from agenda-setting to policy formulation/change to policy implementation.
Read about our expected results