This report reflects on Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s achievements in countering hunger and malnutrition across Asia and the Pacific in 2023, against a multitude of hardships.
This decentralized evaluation was commissioned by the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Lao PDR Country Office as the End-line Evaluation of USDA McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program for Â鶹ÊÓƵ School Feeding in Lao PDR from 2017-2022. It was carried out between November 2022 and September 2023.
This synthesis report presents an updated analysis of the social protection landscape in Asia and the Pacific and identifies priorities for enhancing both food security and nutrition and improving responses to risks and shocks. It draws on scoping studies commissioned by Â鶹ÊÓƵ exploring social protection in eight countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan) and one sub-region (Pacific Island Countries)
In Asia and the Pacific Region, Â鶹ÊÓƵ provides a wide range of strategic and technical support and capacity strengthening services across 17 countries, with a view to improving the coverage, comprehensiveness, adequacy, quality and responsiveness of national social protection systems. This brief provides a snapshot of Â鶹ÊÓƵ's social protection work in the region with an overview of the engagements at the country level
This paper was developed collaboratively with the Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific based in Bangkok (RBB) between July 2022 and May 2023. The paper responds to a desire by Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) to strengthen disability inclusion across its school-based feeding programmes. To date, disability inclusive school-based feeding programmes have been extremely limited in number and in scope, both within and external to Â鶹ÊÓƵ. This means that the evidence base for what works is not extensive. This paper aims to address that gap, informed by data collected from interviews with selected Â鶹ÊÓƵ staff in the region; desk research focusing on Lao People¡¯s Democratic Republic (PDR) and Nepal; and qualitative research with external stakeholders in Lao PDR (in November 2022) and Nepal (in April 2023). Where available, this paper draws on examples observed during field visits to both Lao PDR and Nepal
The study is a part of the research activities of the School Meals Programme under the financial support of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) via McGovern-Dole Programme 2020-2025.
The Lao People¡¯s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) (population 7.2 million in 2021) is a low middle-income Southeast Asia country with a high prevalence of malnutrition, high stunting rates, and widespread micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs).?
This report considers the state of rice fortification in 11 countries in South and Southeast Asia, with particular attention given to the potential for increased trade within the region in fortified rice and fortified rice kernels (FR/FRK) and the benefits that trade would bring.
The joint FAO/Â鶹ÊÓƵ Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) report points out requirements to support farmers and food insecure households until the next main harvest in October/November 2023.
In Lao PDR, Â鶹ÊÓƵ is rolling out household food security surveys through mobile vulnerability analysis and mapping (mVAM). These remote surveys use a phone-based (CATI) methodology to understand the changes in the food security situation and underlying factors across the country.
The Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) contributes to reducing extreme poverty and all forms of malnutrition in the poorest communities through cash distributions as part of the Agriculture for Nutrition (AFN) project in the Northern provinces of Lao PDR.
In December 2020, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Strategy 3.0 (2021-2025) was approved by the SUN Movement Lead Group and is currently being operationalized by SUN countries at a national level.
Aligning with the Scaling up Nutrition Strategy 3.0, a strategic roadmap was developed to support the advancement of SUN Business Networks (SBN) in the Asia region, with the overall aim of increasing private sector engagement in nutrition. The SUN and SBN 3.0 strategies both recognize the need for a shift from a globally driven SUN Movement and SBN to ones that are centered at the national level, with strengthened support at the regional level.
The SBN roadmap for Asia articulates the way forward to engage the private sector and grow SBNs in Asia at country and regional levels, including through the establishment of a regional platform/ coordination mechanism to support national SBNs and identify opportunities with key regional players. It also describes additional opportunities for private sector engagement at the regional level, including strategic alignment with existing private sector-led coalitions and consortia such as the UN Global Compact.
This scoping exercise offers an initial understanding of the digital financial landscape in Lao PDR and a preliminary exploration of opportunities and challenges surrounding digitalization of humanitarian cash transfers, mobile money transfers in particular
The evaluation was commissioned by the Â鶹ÊÓƵ independent Office of Evaluation to provide evaluative evidence for accountability and learning to inform the design of the next Â鶹ÊÓƵ Country Strategic Plan (CSP) in Lao PDR.
The terms of reference aim to inform stakeholders about the evaluation, clarify expectations and requirements and guide the evaluation team in its work during the various phases of the evaluation.
This synthesis comprises 32 decentralized evaluations completed between 2016 and 2019 that included country capacity strengthening (CSS) among other Â鶹ÊÓƵ activities.
