Under the USAID-funded Strengthening Multisectoral Nutrition Programming through Implementation Science Activity (MSNP) project (2017–2022), FHI 360 supports Bangladeshi policymakers and institutions to generate and use evidence that improves nutrition practices and outcomes for pregnant and lactating women and for children under the age of 2.
MSNP was originally designed as a set of multiyear mixed method research studies to assess implementation factors and the effect of different multisectoral nutrition interventions, looking at determinants of child nutritional status. Intervention packages included conditional cash transfers or homestead food production, along with encouraging changes in social behaviors, strengthening the health system strengthening and making referrals to health and social support services. FHI 360 also applied a research utilization component to strengthen the ability of policymakers at national and subnational levels to access, appraise, synthesize and use nutrition evidence from the project and other sources within Bangladesh.
Currently, MSNP is:
- Supporting the government’s efforts to integrate growth monitoring and promotion into the expanded immunization program in the urban center of Kulna, while also building caregiver capacity to conduct nutrition monitoring at home.
- Providing technical guidance for establishing the country’s first human milk bank to ensure that all babies have access to breast milk.
- Supporting the Bangladesh National Nutrition Committee in developing a multisectoral nutrition committee monitoring system at subnational levels.
- Assessing the situation and tools for addressing maternal depression in Bangladesh to inform policy and programmatic efforts.
