Nutrition Stakeholders Action Mapping in Rwanda best practices - UN Reach, Rwanda GoV and SUN Allian
The experience in our country shows that Stakeholder & Action mapping is key to address malnutrition; because once you know partners that are in the country, what actions they are working on, and the gaps of both geographical and beneficiary coverage (of nutrition interventions) you can easily tackle the issue of malnutrition. Without knowing who is doing what and where, what actions are being undertaken and where the gaps are, you can’t move ahead.”
Jannette Kaiyrangwa, UN-REACH Initiative
The Stakeholder & Action Mapping for nutrition carried out in Rwanda offers an example of how this can be an effective tool to identify relevant stakeholders in nutrition, help them to prioritise their actions towards common objectives and strengthen multi-sectoral coordination, thus contributing to addressing gaps in coverage of nutrition interventions at national and local level. Stakeholder & Action Mapping for nutrition was developed in 2015 and promoted by the Office of the Prime Minister in collaboration with UN-REACH. The mapping exercise brought together different stakeholders working on both nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions. These included UN agencies (such as, FAO, WHO, UNICEF and WFP), government institutions (MINAGRI, MOH, MIGEPROF, MINEDUC and MINALOC), organisations from Civil Society at national and sub-national level, as well academia, bi and multi-lateral donors and other development partners.
During analysis of this case study, the Learning Route participants focused on the different key steps needed to carry out the stakeholder mapping, and discussed challenges and opportunities. Each CSA group developed their own step-by-step guide of the key steps towards a successful, inclusive and sustainable mapping process relevant to their context. It was commonly agreed that: inclusive participation right from the very early stage of defining the themes for mapping was essential to success; using the decentralized coordination platforms / SUN committees at district level was the best way to carry out the mapping exercise; the process should be repeated on annual basis, the tools should be simple and not costly (e.g. surveys); sharing the results with all stakeholders was also key and provided a chance to reflect on available resources and gaps; and the exercise can greatly contribute to improved dialogue, coordination and more effective planning and allocation of resources.
As a result of this case study, two of the visiting CSAs developed Innovation Plans around mapping: Kenya (Mainstreaming nutrition as a multi-sectorial agenda in Mombasa County) and Malawi (Stakeholder mapping).
Here below the presentation given during the learning exchange.
Get in touch with Jeanette Kaiyrangwa, UN-REACH Initiative or the SUN Alliance for more information or support
