Combating Malnutrition in Central America Workshop 
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
November 27th - 30th, 2006

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The Combating Malnutrition in Central America Workshop was composed of a multisectoral team consisting of high level policymakers and program staff from the Central America region responsible for setting and implementing nutrition policies.

Drawing on recent World Bank sector work, the workshop reviewed the state of malnutrition in Central America and country specialists presented and discussed nutrition interventions that are being implemented at the community level in Central America, particularly the Community-Based Nutrition

(Estrategia de Atención Integral en Nutrición a Nivel Comunitario, AIN-C) model. The impetus for the workshop originated from a dialogue with clients and their expressed interest in meeting with different implementers of the AIN-C across countries, discussing the adaptations to the original model and learning from the different operational experiences.

The AIN-C is recognized as a promising multisectoral preventive program to reduce malnutrition that is being adapted and scaled up as an integral component of many country-based nutrition strategies.

At the same time, many questions remain unanswered and many program design features are being refined. Among others, for example, there are the issues of sustainability and expanding services through NGOs or through institutional strengthening, the need for direct links with the Ministry of Health, the inclusion of a supplementary feeding complement, the use of monitoring data and impact evaluation results optimally, and the question of including an early childhood component.

The workshop was aimed at those responsible for nutrition policy and programs, including technical staff implementing the AIN-C program in their own countries and staff from the health ministries. The plan is to have a stocktaking workshop on how the AIN-C is currently being implemented in various countries in Central America and analyze the main issues that are typically identified when discussing the AIN-C strategy. The discussion will directly inform the operation of existing programs and will support the design of new programs in the region.