Activity A: Setting the agenda of the workshop (3/7)
4. Provide concrete examples
The NIPN data team will need to review the list of initial questions prior to the workshop, in order to decide which questions are well-formulated and have the best potential to provide an actionable answer.
To facilitate good understanding of the participants, it is important to illustrate the theoretical explanations with concrete examples. It is recommended that the initial questions formulated by NIPN stakeholders are used as practical examples to get to well-formulated questions (see output of Step 1, section 2.2). The guidance note on data analysis (section 3.4) also provides a number of examples.
In many cases, the initial questions can be reformulated into answerable (sub-)questions. At all stages of question formulation however, it is important to manage stakeholders’ expectations and be transparent about the fact that not all questions may be answered, which questions will be prioritised and why, and what the next step will be.
Questions and data analyses which are not prioritised or cannot be answered by NIPN could become part of a ‘Question Bank’ (see section 2.5). The data collection or analyses of these questions might possible for other nutrition partners.
- Can the targets for reducing chronic malnutrition be reached within the timeframe of the National Plan of Action?
- Should a pilot project on community-based behaviour change interventions be scaled up to other districts?
- Which nutrition interventions should be prioritised to maximise impact on stunting?
- Are nutrition interventions of the National Plan of Action reaching the target population for all sectors?
- What can explain that some nutrition-specific interventions have lower coverage in some districts compared to other districts? In which districts can coverage be improved and what needs to change in terms of implementation to achieve this?
- How many cases of stunted children can be averted if national targets are to be achieved? Can these targets be achieved with the current intervention coverage levels? Thus, what needs to change in term of implementation?
At sub-national level
- What explains that some districts have lower malnutrition levels than others over past years of implementation of the National Multisectoral Plan of Action for Nutrition?
- How do districts perform on stunting, underweight and anemia among children under the age of 5?
- How are budget expenditures / budget allocations for nutrition-related interventions distributed across sectors?
- How do key outcome indicators (determinants) vary across these districts? (p.e. what are the levels and trends of timely initiation of breastfeeding or adequate household dietary diversity)
- How does the district perform on implementation of nutrition specific interventions along a continuum of care? Is coverage of services to women of reproductive age, pregnant women, new mothers and new-borns adequate ?