Maximising the Nutritional Impact of Humanitarian Food Assistance

Over the past years, DG ECHO has placed a strong focus on nutrition, renewing its commitment to improve nutrition-specific programing through the release of the Nutrition Staff Working Document (2013) and the IYCF-E guidance document in 2015. However, the improvement of the nutrition status of disaster-affected populations requires action beyond the Nutrition sector: there is a need to tackle the multiple determinants of undernutrition in emergencies through the mainstreaming of nutrition across sectors including in Humanitarian Food Assistance (HFA).

The review is intended to inform the development of technical guidance on maximising the nutrition-sensitivity of Humanitarian Food Assistance (HFA) Programmes through an initial desk review in order to: a) Map existing documents and tools created and used by stakeholders relevant to the nutrition component and outcomes of food assistance, b) evaluate their technical relevance and validity and c) conduct a gap analysis.