CARE Bangladesh signs MoU with Institute of Public Health Nutrition and National Nutrition Services

CARE Bangladesh signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today with the Institute of Public Health Nutrition (IPHN) and National Nutrition Services (NNS) on Jan 18 2024. This tripartite MoU marks a commitment to working together to strengthen community health systems, improve household nutrition and health behaviors, and enhance leadership and governance for improved nutrition. This MoU will support USAID's Community Nutrition and Health Activity (CNHA), which aims to sustainably impact the nutrition and health outcomes of women and children in their first 1000 days.

Professor Dr. Shah Golam Nabi, Director, IPHN, Professor Dr. Mijanur Rahman, Line Director, NNS and Dr. Ikhtiar Uddin Khandaker, Acting Deputy Country Director and Director-Health and Nutrition, CARE Bangladesh, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.

Professor Dr. Shah Golam Nabi remarked that he expects the MoU to enable collaboration between CARE and IPHN to generate the evidence base required to inform nutrition-related policymaking in Bangladesh.

"NNS is ready to support CNHA to implement the program and to implement our national strategies through effective coordination between different actors at the national and local level" expressed Professor Dr. Mijanur Rahman, Line Director, NNS.

Stating the significance of the MoU signing, Dr. Ikhtiar Uddin Khandaker, Acting Deputy Country Director and Director-Health and Nutrition, CARE Bangladesh, said, "CNHA has a lot of scope to identify bottlenecks and challenges and formulate evidence-based solutions to them to achieve nutrition goals."

Among others who attended the MoU signing ceremony were Dr. Md. Mofijul Islam Bulbul, Program Manager, NNS; Dr. Mohammad Shoayeb, Assistant Director, IPHN; representatives from CNHA's consortium partners (icddr,b, Jhpiego, VISCOM and mPower) and CARE staff members.

About CNHA: USAID's Community Nutrition and Health Activity (CNHA) aims to sustainably impact the nutrition and health of women and children in their first 1000 days of life. CNHA will work in 14 districts of Bangladesh chosen based on health, nutrition, gender, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) data, as well as socioeconomic data on poverty, gender-based violence, child marriage, marginalized or hard-to-reach populations, and climate change vulnerability. Through the project's activities, CNHA will reach around 4 million people directly.

About CARE: Founded in 1945, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty with special focus on working with girls and women. CARE currently works in over 100 countries. In today's Bangladesh, CARE started its journey in 1949 and our current programs are focused on Women and Youth Empowerment, Health and Nutrition, Humanitarian and Climate Action, and Food and Agricultural Systems. In FY23, CARE in Bangladesh reached out to 5.3 million people directly with 48+ projects/initiatives. To learn more, visit www.care.org and www.carebangladesh.org