Government of Sindh (GoS) through the Planning and Development Department (PDD) is implementing a six-year, from 2016 to 2021, multi-sectoral Sindh Accelerated Action Plan for Reduction of Stunting and Malnutrition (AAP), with the objective of reducing stunting rate from the existing 48 percent to 40 percent by 2021.
The European Union (EU), under the EU Commission Action Plan on Nutrition 2014, is supporting GoS in addressing the issue of malnutrition. European Union has approved the Programme for Improved Nutrition in Sindh (PINS) to be implemented in ten districts of Sindh. PINS will build upon the social mobilisation approach to community-driven development (CDD) of RSPN and RSPs under the EU-supported Sindh Union Council and Community Economic Strengthening Support (SUCCESS) Programme and GoS supported Union Council Based Poverty Reduction Programme (UCBPRP).
The overall objective of PINS is to sustainably improve the nutritional status of children under five and of pregnant and lactating women (PLWs) in Sindh corresponding to the second target indicator of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No 2.
PINS’ specific objective is to focus on capacitating the Government of Sindh so that it may efficiently implement its multi-sectoral nutrition policy while providing direct assistance to significantly and rapidly reduce malnutrition in rural Sindh.
PINS is a four-year programme that will be implemented across ten districts of Sindh: Shikarpur, Thatta, Kambar Shahdadkot, Larkana, Dadu, Jamshoro, Matiari, Sajawal, Tando Allahyar and Tando Muhammad Khan.
The Technical Assistance (TA) component will be implemented by Counseil Sante, an international organisation in partnership with SOFRECO and Prime Foundation. ER-1 focuses on enhancing capacity of the Government of Sindh and other stakeholders regarding nutrition-related policy/strategy development, coordination, implementation, adaptive research, data collection/analysis and communication.
Additionally, the TA will address the following cross-cutting issues: Gender, Migration, Rights-based Approach and the Environment, Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction.
This component covers nutrition-specific interventions and is being led by Action Against Hunger Pakistani. The following will be focused upon under ER-2:
This component includes nutrition-sensitive interventions i.e. Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Agriculture & Food Security (AFS). RSPN is the lead for this component with Action Against Hunger, Sindh Rural Support Organisation, National Rural Support Programme and Thardeep Rural Development Programme as implementing partners. The ER-3 component will focus on the following:
