Emergency Nutrition Response in South Omo Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR) and Zone Four, Afar Region, 2017 The proposed project will provide emergency Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) support to two woredas in South Omo Zone, Southern Nations and Nationalities People’s Region (SNNPR) and one woreda in Afar Region for a period of six months based on requests received from the Regional Health Bureaus. Concern will support the Ministry of Health (MOH) to strengthen existing Therapeutic Feeding Programme (TFP) services by increasing coverage and quality. The intervention will address high levels of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) in the woredas and prevent cases of MAM from deteriorating to severe acute malnutrition (SAM) among children under five years of age (U5) and pregnant and lactating women (PLW). 

The overall objective of the project is to provide lifesaving emergency nutrition services in severely drought affected pastoralist and non-pastoralist communities. Concern will support the Ministry of Health to deliver high quality CMAM services including Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP), Stabilization Center (SC) and community mobilization in two Hotspot Priority One woredas (Male, Bena Tsemay) in SNNPR and one Hotspot Priority One woreda (Teru) in zone 4 of  Afar Region through existing Health Centers (HC) and Health Posts (HP). Activities will be coordinated with the two Mobile Health and Nutrition Teams (MHNT) in Teru.
 
The objective of the project will be achieved by establishing effective community mobilization for case detection, referral, follow up and promotion of key health seeking behaviors and strengthening the Woreda Health Office (WoHO) capacity to manage CMAM in the targeted woredas. The OTP, SC and community mobilization components will be delivered by the WMoH (Woreda Ministry of Health) to improve management and treatment of severely malnourished children at health post level, treatment of severely malnourished children with medical complications at SCs, and community mobilization by strengthening outreach activities of MoH personnel. Technical support in terms of joint monitoring and supervision of OTP and SC by Concern and WMoH staff will ensure quality of the project and allow corrective action when needed through on the job training. The Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme (TSFP) component will be delivered by the WMoH in partnership with WFP in SNNPR, however in Afar the TSFP component will be directly supported by Concern.

The project will provide technical and logistical support to the woreda health offices to ensure quality CMAM services are maintained and to minimize loss of life and suffering associated with acute malnutrition. Direct beneficiaries will be targeted based on their nutritional status following national guidelines. Technical support in terms of joint monitoring and supervision by Concern and WMoH staff will ensure quality of the project and allow corrective action when needed through on the job training. 

Concern outreach workers and community members will be mobilized to identify and refer malnourished children using MUAC tapes, sensitized on key Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) messages to promote optimal practices and promote good hygiene. Concern will provide CMAM training for MOH staff and Health Extension Workers (HEWs) in line with National Guidelines. In addition, HEWs will receive Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E) training to promote optimal feeding practices. Concern will promote good hygiene and treatment of drinking water at household level and sites. Water treatment chemicals (WTC) and soap will be distributed to CMAM beneficiaries.