Increased Access to Community- and Facility-Based Nutrition Services to strengthen the Resilience of Children and Families in Karan and Yaqshid districts, Banadir Region, Somalia. Mercy-USA’s strategic interventions will ensure increased access to nutrition services and expanded coverage through 4 fixed facilities, 5 outreach sites (1 mobile team), and community levels. This three-pronged approach is part of Mercy-USA’s strategy to respond to populations' immediate and medium-term needs under distress by supporting the local health facilities and the Ministry of Health capacity to implement nutrition interventions in line with nutrition guidelines available. Specifically, this nutrition program will promote access to quality care, adequate nutrition, and encourage healthier behaviors to optimize the communities’ resilience to future nutrition emergencies. 
Mercy-USA for Aid and Development, in partnership with the MoH, will continue to address the nutrition challenges by implementing the integrated package in 2 fixed facilities in Karan district and 2 fixed facilities and 5 outreach sites (1 mobile team) in Yaqshid district in Banadir region.
Facility and community-based Basic Nutrition Services Package (BNSP) will cover both curative and preventative interventions targeting children under 5 years old (boys and girls) and pregnant and lactating women.
Mercy-USA will ensure that the nutrition sites will receive uninterrupted therapeutic/supplementary food supplies. Mercy-USA will provide staff, technical capacity building for staff, and additional monitoring to ensure compliance with nutrition protocols. 
Mercy-USA will train all nutrition staff on SAM and MAM diagnosis and management. Mercy-USA will provide regular joint supervision of the health facilities with MoH and offer refresher trainings to staff.
This program will promote optimal nutrition and IYCF practices that are beneficial to child survival and development by focusing on the promotion, support, and protection of EBF for children and appropriate complementary feeding to build resilience and the nutrition status of infants lt6 months (through EBF) and children 6-24 months. Mothers with children lt6 months will receive messages specific to Exclusive Breastfeeding while mothers with children 6-24 months will receive messages on breastfeeding and complementary feeding. 
Screening for malnutrition among children lt5 and PLW will be conducted primarily at the community level though this screening will also occur at the health facilities by nutrition staff. Malnourished women and children will be admitted in the relevant OTP or TSFP programs. 
According to IMAM guidelines, children in the nutrition program will receive relevant micronutrient supplementation such as iron/folate and Vitamin A. Women in prenatal care will receive treatment for anemia if required as well as micronutrient supplementation, and postnatal women will be supplemented with Vitamin A and treatment of anemia if required. Additionally, all children admitted in the nutrition program will receive deworming drugs and relevant89` micronutrient supplementation such as iron/folate and Vitamin A.
Serious vaccine-preventable diseases are still prevalent in Somalia. Mercy-USA will thus support the provision of routine EPI activities. This will continue to increase immunization coverage among women and children lt5 years. IDPs, nomadic groups and remote or difficult to access communities are most at risk of missing out on routine EPI. Therefore, Mercy-USA will facilitate outreach nutrition and EPI teams to serve the people who are far from the facilities.
Additionally, Mercy-USA will screen everyone entering a healthcare facility for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and ensure all the preventive and control measures. Although screening for symptoms will not identify asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic individuals with COVID 19 infection, symptom screening remains an important strategy to identify those who could have COVID-19 so appropriate precautions can be implemented.