Provision of lifesaving nutrition assistance for drought affected population in Afgoye district, Lower Shabelle. ltpgtltspan style="font-size: 14px"gtIn the Afgooye district, APCO will begin the implementation of a project that will last for a year and will centre on the provision of lifesaving nutrition assistance for the population that has been impacted by the drought. This population will include children under the age of five as well as women who are pregnant or nursing. This will be accomplished through the screening, referral, and treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM), the referral of children and pregnant and lactating women with moderate acute malnutrition to targeted supplementary feeding programs, and the promotion of optimal maternal, infant, and young child nutritional and care practices (IYCF). The objective of the treatment of cases of SAM and promotion of MIYCF is to reduce the overall prevalence of acute malnutrition among new arrivals IDPs in the Afgooye district.lt/spangtltbrgtlt/pgtltpgtltbrgtThe screening and identification of acute malnutrition among children, pregnant and lactating women will include training of community health workers to conduct routine and active case finding of malnutrition cases, promotion of Family/Mother MUAC (where mothers and other caregivers will be trained to screen their children), quarterly mass MUAC screening in project locations, and screening of newly arrived IDPs in collaboration with CCCM cluster partners.lt/pgtltpgtltbrgtOutpatient therapeutic programme services will be provided for patients suffering from severe acute malnutrition. These services will be delivered by one fixed site that is integrated into MCH as well as by four mobile/outreach teams.  According to APCO's projections, they will be able to reach and treat more than 3,000 severely malnourished patients, which will bring the coverage in the targeted areas up to over 90 percent. All cases of severe acute malnutrition with medical complications will be referred to the nearest stabilisation centres, while all cases of moderate cases will be referred to the nearest TSFP sites.lt/pgtltpgtltbrgtOptimal nutrition and care practises for mothers, infants, and young children will be promoted through a variety of strategies, such as the formation of mother-to-mother support groups, face-to-face counselling from health workers and community health workers, the utilisation of interactive media, such as community plays, and the application of IEC/BCC materials, amongst others. Integrating key messaging on topics such as hygiene and sanitation, health, immunization, and other related topics will be a part of the promotion of IYCF. The prevention of malnutrition will also include the promotion and provision of micronutrient supplementation.ltbrgtTo ensure that the community owns the project, a variety of strategies that strengthen the accountability of affected people will be implemented. These strategies include community response and feedback sessions, engaging the community through innovative approaches such as telephone surveys, and other methods to inform and gather information from the communities that are being targeted.lt/pgtltpgtltbrgtThe project will include the implementation of the Child Protection and Nutrition Integration Framework, which will include the training of nutrition workers to identify and refer cases of child abuse and neglect. In addition to this, workers in the nutrition field will receive training in PSEA and GBV referral issues.ltbrgtlt/pgt