In June 2016, SPRING and Digital Green began conducting concept testing in two regions in Niger in preparation for developing a series of community videos. Concept testing is a means of involving audiences in production and ensuring videos are adapted to the local context. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of community uptake of the promoted behaviors.
US Ambassador Sheila Gwaltney visited SPRING/Kyrgyzstan program working to improve nutrition outcomes among women and children in Naryn Oblast.
US Ambassador Sheila Gwaltney visited the USAID-funded SPRING project in the Naryn Oblast of Kyrgyz Republic on June 8th and 9th.
On June 8th, Ambassador Gwaltney toured a SPRING-supported district hospital that provides maternal and child nutrition services to 68 thousand people, and met with new mothers receiving important counseling regarding the nutrition of their babies.
In tandem with the Kyrgyz Association of Village Health Committees, SPRING works through an existing network of “Community Activists,” the primary infrastructure in many communities for awareness raising and the dissemination of social messages. SPRING orients the Activists on a different nutrition-related theme (e.g.
SPRING conducts trainings primarily for health care providers at the national level and in its implementation areas to deliver high-quality nutrition services and counselling.
Hassan is preparing to go on a journey. His wife, Maimouna, goes to the health center for her prenatal visit, where a health worker gives her iron and folic acid tablets (IFA) and discusses how to properly take the tablets to avoid side effects. He also explains the importance of IFA tablets and proper nutrition for the health of the mother and child, and for all women and girls of childbearing age. At home, Maimouna shares this information with her husband, who educates family members to take care of Maimouna during pregnancy and lactation while he is away.
The first session in this series, Using Demographic and Health Survey Data to Monitor and Evaluate Nutrition Programs, was jointly hosted with The Demographic Health Survey (DHS) Program and focused on the collection and use of DHS data to monitor and evaluate nutrition programs.
In August 2013, SPRING and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) formally launched the Nigeria Community and Facility Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Package for its use in uniform training and information sharing throughout Nigeria.