The United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Vision in cooperation with the National Nutrition Council Region 9 have successfully conducted the Training of Trainers (TOT) on the First 1000 Days Reporting System (F1K RS) as part of the Early Childhood Care and Development for the First 1000 Days (ECCD F1K) Program in Zamboanga del Norte (ZDN). It was held on July 27-28, 2021 through a mixed approach where some of the participants were physically present at Mibang Hotel in Dipolog City, ZDN while some participated virtually. The training was participated by 21 Nutrition Action Officers, NDDPs along with representatives from the Provincial Health Office (PHO), ZDN Provincial Nutrition Office (PNO), UNICEF, World Vision, Zuellig Family Foundation, Department of Health IX, and the National Nutrition Council IX (NNC 9) which provided technical support through Nutrition Officer III Elton N. Pelegrino.

For almost 5 decades in its pursuit to improving the nutritional well-being of Filipinos, the National Nutrition Council continues to innovate strategies on how to manage the problem of malnutrition in the country. Pursuant to Section 6 of R.A 11037 or otherwise known as the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act, mandates NNC as the agency focal point for the multi-agency Early Childhood Care and Development for the First 1000 Days (ECCDF1K) and the National Nutrition Information System.

The ECCD F1K RS is a tracking tool to process real-time accomplishments on the ECCD F1K program. This aims to harmonize all reporting systems within the health sector including other services accessed by mothers in the first 1000 days. The Reporting System (RS) contains 8 modules. Its key features and capabilities are centralized web-based system (no installation needed); mobile device responsive; supports offline encoding in Excel for later uploading; SMS notifications for beneficiaries next scheduled visit; and report generation.

As part of the full implementation of the ECCD F1KD program and to harmonized RS, there is a need to train a pool of trainers on this Reporting System to be rolled out in the entire province of Zamboanga del Norte. Through the initiative of the Provincial Nutrition Office in close coordination with NNC 9 and the nutrition partners such as UNICEF, KOICA, World Vision, and Zuellig Family Foundation, the TOT on F1K RS had been made successful with the unconditional commitment of support from NNC 9 headed by Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Ms. Nimfa D. Ekong. May this training impact good nutrition to the people of Zamboanga del Norte and help address the problem of malnutrition in the near future.

-PNFP-ZDN Rowence F. Zorilla