Caraga nutrition council spearheads the 1st reg’l conference of nutrition advocates, practitioners
By Kelvin Kennt R. Generalo
PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur -- The National Nutrition Council (NNC) Caraga initiated the First Joint Regional Conference of Nutrition Action Officers, District/City/Municipal Nutrition Program Coordinators, and Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) on August 15-16 at CN Inland Resort in Rosario, this province.
Representing Agusan del Sur Governor
Santiago Cane Jr., Michael Leo C. Torralba, executive assistant to the governor
delivered his welcome address and highlighted the governor's commitment
and involvement in the big event.
"The primary goal of our
gathering is to mobilize local nutrition focal persons to operationalize the
Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2023-2028 within our respective
local government units. We all know that poverty and hunger have been a
perennial issue that we wanted to address guided by the Sustainable Development
Goals 1 and 2 by the United Nations," he said.
"By continuously working
together, we can make significant strides towards improving the nutritional
status and overall health of our communities. This conference will also serve
as a platform to share and learn from each other's good practices in nutrition
program implementation," he added.
Dr. NiΓ±o Archie S. Labordo, regional
nutrition program coordinator of NNC Caraga, also addressed the participants,
encouraging them to view the conference not as an additional task but as an
opportunity for growth.
"Let us participate actively and
enjoy this conference to learn, refresh, and take a break from our routine
work. We are here to unite, share, and connect with others in our field who are
essential to implementing nutrition programs," he said.
Assistant Secretary and Executive
Director IV of the NNC, Dr. Azucena M. Dayanghirang, congratulated the Caraga
region for initiating the conference. She emphasized that effective nutrition
champions must also take care of their own well-being and acknowledged the
crucial work of nutrition advocates, detailing their activities and essential
tasks.
“I always say 'we' because each one
of you is a member of the nutrition family working toward a common goal:
improving nutrition and ending malnutrition. The underlying determinants of
malnutrition include food, behavior, and access to quality nutrition and health
services,” she said.
“As I address all the nutrition
action officers, district/city/municipal nutrition program coordinators, and
barangay nutrition scholars (BNS)—the frontliners in nutrition promotion and
advocacy—let us embrace the triple strategy of the Philippine Plan of Action
for Nutrition (PPAN) to combat the triple burden of malnutrition. Together, we
can advance actions against malnutrition,” she added.
Dr. Dayanghirang encouraged everyone
to use the PPAN 2023-2028 as a guide to achieve the goal of adequate nutrition
for everyone.
Rogelio M. Guma, psychologist III at
the Department of Health - Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (DOH-DTRC)
Agusan del Sur, shared insights on "Deal and Pose: Challenges of Nutrition
Workers."
"The sign of a normal human is
doing what is right, having a philosophy in life, integrated and consistent
personality, free expression of personality, adaptability to group norms,
adequate self-knowledge, ability to exercise voluntary control over his
behavior, know your self-esteem/self- worth/respect, self-acceptance, adequate
security feelings emotional maturity, productivity, and lastly ability to form
affectionate relationship with others," he said.
"If you notice there is
something wrong with you, seek advice immediately, because you need counseling,"
he added.
He further encouraged the
participants to actively participate in the government programs for them to
upgrade learning and know their self-worth. He also extended his helping hands
in counseling the participants if they are willing to ask his help.
Meanwhile, Dr. Reyveen John B. Geli,
nutrition officer IV of the city government of Tandag, shared his experience as
the National Outstanding City Nutrition Action Officer for Calendar Year (CY)
2022.
"We are under the city mayor,
and one of the advantages of this is that when we organize projects or
activities, they are easily implemented because the mayor approves them
quickly," he said.
"We need to establish a local
nutrition committee and conduct regular meetings with documented minutes. We
should also formulate a nutrition action plan and focus on resource generation
and budget mobilization," he added.
He also discussed the mobilization
and deployment of the maternal nutrition and infant and young child feeding
(MNIYCF) community support group during emergencies, as well as the
organization of 1,000 life program caravans, its efforts to strengthen
nutrition advocacy across all media platforms, and mentioned the Philippine
Information Agency (PIA) as an active partner offering free services in
information dissemination.
Gabriel C. Tubigon,
nutritionist-consultant for the United Nations International Children's
Emergency Fund (UNICEF), addressed the role of information management in
effective evidence-based documentation.
"Information management is a
systematic process for the collection, collation, storage, processing,
verification, and analysis of data and dissemination to
stakeholders, to support effective and timely action," he said.
"The critical considerations to
achieve better evidence-based documentation is to have a thorough data
collection, critical analysis of evidence, clear and logical structure, regular
review and updates," he added.
"We should also have effective
communications, verification and cross-referencing, accessibility and usage and
lastly privacy and confidentiality must be practiced properly," he
elaborated.
The conference motivated the nutrition advocates and practitioners to continue serving those in need in their respective communities. (KKG, PIA-Agusan del Sur)
