VILLAREAL, Samar – The municipality of Villareal in Samar funded a Nutrition Program Management (NPM) Training. The NPM training was squeezed to four days with overtime hours until 6:30 in the afternoon.

The LGU invited resource speakers and facilitators from the National Nutrition Council 8 and from the Provincial Nutrition Office.

The first 3 days tackle the basic concepts of Nutrition Program Management. The training team in its pre-training/workshop meeting agreed to include special sessions on the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022 and LGU Mobilization for Scaled Up Nutrition Action, Early Childhood Care and Development in the First 1000 Days (ECCD-F1KD), Local Nutrition Functionality Checklist, Monitoring and Evaluation of Local Level Program Implementation (MELLPI) PRO, The Mandanas Garcia Supreme Court Ruling: Opportunities for Nutrition Support and the Nutrition PPAs Inclusion in the Devolution Transition Plan.

On the fourth day, the training-workshop. culminates with the Municipal Nutrition Action Program (MNAP) formulation for 2023-2025. Their MNAP will serve as the backbone for the management of nutrition programs in the LGU.

Moreover, their draft MNAP will be the basis in the updating of their Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). The CDP is for updating late this year for the period 2023-2028. Drafting and updating their 2023-2025 MNAP is a fitting activity for this to be included in the updated CDP.

Meanwhile, it was agreed that a clean-up session will be done with the LGUs planning core team, the Provincial Nutrition Office and the National Nutrition Council 8 before it will be endorsed by the Municipal Nutrition Committee to the local Sanggunian for legislation and authorization before it will approved by the Local Chief Executive.

Part of the clean-up sessions will be integrating of the MNAP to their Annual Investment Program. PPAs for nutrition will be then prioritized and be included in their approved annual municipal budgets. #RNPC-CPD