Emergency Lifesaving Nutrition support under CoVID-19 response in Herat and Badghis priority districts The designed project aims at ensuring delivery of adequate nutrition services, including the malnutrition treatment, compromised due to the movement restrictions and other stressors. The disruption of nutrition service provision due to overburdened health facilities and staff shortages associated with COVID-19 is expected to deteriorate the nutrition status of children, as well as pregnant and lactating women in the pre-defined high-risk districts (Ghoriyan, Gulran, Guzara, Enjil, Hirat, Karukh and Qala-e-now). World Vision (WV) Intends to deliver the required nutrition services through the establishment of 6 Mobile Health and Nutrition teams as well as the promotion of mother MUAC to put mothers at the center of malnutrition screening. The mother MUAC strategies   acknowledge that mothers are in the  best   position to detect the earliest signs of malnutrition and leverages  the  fact  that  mothers  want  to  participate  as  fully as possible in promoting the health and nutrition of their children. The mothers will report on MUAC screening once a month, in addition to this the project strengthening the capacity of Family Health Action Groups, female volunteers and CHWs in Infant and Young Child Feeding to promote key IYCF practices and counselling based on the WHO guideline under the COVID-19 circumstances. These groups will be trained to respond to the question of key community members and women in childbearing ages in relation on promotion of breastfeeding and be able to respond any questions that may be asked by each member of the community.
 
Blanket supplementary feeding is generally used as a preventive measure among PLWs and children under 2 during the COVID-19 emergency period (project duration), WVI will appeal to WFP for the BSFP supplies and distribute to the children under 2 and PLWs in the target locations. MHNTs operate 6 days per week and ensure that the SAM and MAM children are identified and admitted to the program. The SAM children will receive the RUTF and screening every 2 weeks while the MAM will receive RUSF and screening once a month.
 
The project will focus on early action to avoid severe malnutrition so the project will cover the, ‘borderline’ cases of acute malnutrition through prevention-oriented services such as counselling on optimal care practices to mothers of children who are borderline in terms of their Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC). This approach has potential to reduce the risk of rapid deterioration of the nutritional status of children with a MUAC result of 12.5-13.5 cm. This will be done at the MHNTs level by nutrition nurse and at the community level by community nutrition promoters. 

The proposed project will ensure that all the relevant staff members and health/nutrition care providers are equipped with the PPE and IPC in order to be protected from the COVID-19 and are able to fully operate under the novel virus circumstances. The adaptation mechanism will be taken into consideration during any capacity building efforts, IYCF promotion session based on the WHO/MOPH and WV Standard Operating Procedure for training, public gatherings, IEC distribution under the COVID-19 circumstances. 
The project will focus on the provision of lifesaving referral for those cases that require inpatient services and will ensure that a transportation and treatment facility are provided for them. WV attends the EPR meetings on a weekly basis and will update the key actors including DoPH, UNICEF and WHO on the project progress the project report will be shared on a weekly and monthly basis to the key nutrition cluster focal points and DEWS surveillance focal points. In the EPR meetings, various issues are discussed such as places where the new MHNTs should operate and take proper measures to avoid overlap of same interventions. The locations WV is targeting via the proposed project are/shall be endorsed by EPR and are different with that of the UNCIEF MHNTs.