In a joint meeting conducted by the National Nutrition Council- NCR, the members of the regional nutrition cluster met the focal persons/heads of the local nutrition clusters and the HEMS coordinators of all the 17 cities and municipality in Metro Manila except Las Pinas City who failed to attend the meeting. The meeting was held on February 24, 2015 at Robbinsdale Hotel in Quezon City and was presided by Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Mila V. Federizo. The NNC-NCR chairs the inter-agency regional nutrition cluster.

The meeting became a venue for all the members of the nutrition clusters to share and discuss the status of the local nutrition clusters in terms of functionality, coordination mechanism and issues and concerns in operation. The discussion came after NPC Federizo explained the National Policy on Nutrition in Emergencies.

Another highlight of the meeting was the sharing of Dr. Bowen Poblete and Ms. Marissa Almario, Pasig City’s HEMS and Nutrition Cluster Coordinators, respectively, of their experiences in organizing their nutrition clusters at the barangay and city levels and how they provided nutrition interventionustes in response to typhoons and fires that affected some of their barangays.

The regional and local nutrition clusters were organized to ensure that the nutritional status of affected population especially the most vulnerable groups: infants, children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, older persons, people with disabilities, and people living with debilitating conditions will not worsen or deteriorate due to the impact of emergencies and disaster through linking with other cluster/sector groups and establishing capacities at all levels.
The participants thanked NNC-NCR for holding the said meeting as it enabled them to better appreciate their roles and functions and were clarified as to how the nutrition cluster should relate and coordinate with HEMS and with the other clusters such as health; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); and mental health and psychosocial support (PSMHSS).