ADDIS ABABA - April 5, 2025 (NIPN/EPHI) – A one-day workshop was held yesterday at the GIZ Conference Room, focusing on exploring sustainability alternatives for the National Information Platform for Nutrition-Ethiopia (NIPN-Ethiopia).
The event gathered senior officials from the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), members of the NIPN team, staff from the International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI), and senior personnel from GIZ, along with representatives from the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, and UNICEF. Participants deliberated on strategies to ensure the continuity of NIPN as it approaches the conclusion of its project period in November 2025.
The workshop commenced with a presentation by Dr. Ingo Neu, C4N (Capacity for Nutrition)-NIPN nutrition expert that emphasized the necessity of integrating existing structures to boost multi-sectoral coordination for the sustainability of NIPN. He highlighted the need for evidence-driven funding strategies and a robust monitoring framework and concluded by advocating for the establishment of an official NIPN unit within EPHI's Nutrition, Environmental Health, and Non-Communicable Disease Research Directorate to ensure institutional sustainability.
Following this, Deputy Director General of EPHI, Dr. Getachew Tollera, expressed gratitude to GIZ and IFPRI for their financial and technical support and acknowledged the ongoing contributions of NIPN in evidence generation. Dr. Getachew called on the NIPN team to develop a feasible and workable proposal for submission to the National Food and Nutrition Coordination Body and Development Partners aimed at securing funding to guarantee the sustainability of NIPN.
The Deputy Director General stated that NIPN is an essential component of all aspects, noting that the work is ongoing and will persist, along with continued efforts to secure funding.
Dr. Getachew highlighted the significant efforts of EPHI in supporting NIPN by assigning permanent staff, including top-level management personnel, to ensure smooth operations, despite facing budget constraints.
Director of the Nutrition, Environmental Health, and Non-Communicable Disease Research Directorate at EPHI, Dr. Masresha Tessema, opened his remarks by thanking GIZ and IFPRI for their financial and technical support. He emphasized the government’s commitment to NIPN and outlined how data from NIPN could eventually be transferred to the National Data Management Center (NDMC), ensuring that NIPN's data repository work can continue through the NDMC.
He also addressed the current recruitment challenges, stating that government regulations prohibit the hiring of new staff at this time. Dr. Masresha underscored NIPN's significant contributions beyond regular project activities, providing technical support to various ministries, including the MoH, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), and the Ministry of Education (MoE). He highlighted NIPN's vital role in facilitating multi-sectoral coordination and addressing diverse nutrition requests, achieving results that extend beyond the project's initial objectives.
In conclusion, Dr. Masresha affirmed NIPN's commitment to overcoming new challenges and mentioned the development of a dashboard that NIPN has contributed to as part of its ongoing efforts.
NIPN-Ethiopia coordinator, Dr. Aregash, on her part, emphasized NIPN's role in evidence generation and its recognition from global partners. She expressed a strong desire to continue collaborations with multi-sectoral partners and highlighted the importance of ongoing training initiatives, which NIPN has successfully conducted. Dr. Aregash stressed that ongoing training is essential for sustaining efforts beyond the project's end and noted NIPN's contribution to addressing policy questions from government agencies, establishing itself as a central hub for nutritional information.
Dr. Aregash identified media engagement as a crucial component of the NIPN strategy and emphasized the importance of making the evidence generated by NIPN accessible to the public by communicating in clear, straightforward language and avoiding jargon. This initiative will leverage both mainstream and social media platforms, ensuring that the community and development partners are kept informed about NIPN's activities and progress.
Nutrition Coordination Lead Executive Office (NCLEO), Head Executive Officer, MoH, Mrs. Hiwot Darsene, pointed out that NIPN extends beyond the scope of a single project, serving as an integral part of the National Food and Nutrition Strategy. Mrs. Hiwot spoke in favor of the project's continuation and expressed her gratitude to all stakeholders for their ongoing support.
Advisor to NIPN-Ethiopia from GIZ, Dr. Archana Sarkar, emphasized that the initiatives undertaken by NIPN highlight the necessity for its ongoing efforts. She stated that there is a strong demand for NIPN’s activities throughout the country, particularly in providing evidence for decision-makers. Together with its donors and partners, NIPN is establishing effective systems in various sub-national public health institutes to ensure that trained experts are readily available. Dr. Archana noted that, given NIPN's numerous accomplishments in the nutrition and health sectors, efforts need to be made to ensure its sustainability.
NIPN has been involved in a variety of impactful activities. The Seqota Declaration (SD) stands out as a program of which we should all be proud. Additionally, the work NIPN has done in relation to the School Feeding Program (SFP) represents another significant achievement. NIPN successfully gathered key stakeholders and provided evidence demonstrating how SFP can positively influence school nutrition. Such accomplishments lay the groundwork for collaborative efforts aimed at ensuring NIPN's sustainability.
Dr. Ingo stated that the workshop represents an initial step towards exploring options for sustaining NIPN; this is just the beginning of a process, and the efforts will continue.
The workshop marked a significant step towards ensuring the future impact of NIPN, with all participants recognizing its invaluable contributions and expressing strong support for its sustainability by addressing financial, institutional, and technical challenges. (NIPN/EPHI)
