News

Participants call on the international community to continue to raise awareness, encourage a coordinated and collective response, and prioritize specific actions that will generate the knowledge and data needed to improve adolescent nutrition.

On June 22, 2018, the USAID-funded SPRING project in the Kyrgyz Republic hosted an event in Bishkek to share important lessons and accomplishments of the project from 2014 to 2018. The event was attended by Madamin Karataev, Deputy Minister, Ministry...

In April 2018, over 1,000 social and behavior change communications (SBCC) experts gathered in Nusa Dua, Indonesia for the 2018 International Social and Behavior Change Communication Summit. Even before the summit began, SPRING had been highly engage...

On March 8 2018, SPRING celebrated International Women’s Day with a presentation at the 1,000 Days Advocacy Working Group in Washington, D.C. Gwyneth Cotes, Global Initiatives Director; Altrena Mukuria Country Initiatives Director; Sarah Titus, Food ...

This year, two SPRING videos received honorable mentions in the 2018 Pulitzer Global Health Video competition for the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) conference in New York. “Districts Assess Anemia with DATA” was honored in the v...

The SPRING project worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) Evidence and Programme Guidance Unit, Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, to develop Guideline: Implementing Effective Actions for Improving Adolescent Nutrition. This...

The 2013 Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) for Nigeria found that infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices remain suboptimal in Nigeria. Among other findings, only 17.4% of children under six months old are exclusively breastfeed, and only ...

UNICEF, the Nigeria Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), and SPRING carried out an evaluation of the Community Infant and Young Child Feeding (C-IYCF) Counselling Package in Nigeria. On January 31st, 2018 SPRING staff Peggy Koniz-Booher and Sascha Lams...

SPRING’s community-led video approach to improve nutrition in Niger and Burkina Faso received over 6,000 votes in Zilient’s 2017 Resilience Awards, earning it a third place finish among over 40 submissions.SPRING worked with key populations in the Af...

A central part of SPRING’s work is to share learnings on how to implement effective nutrition programming. As more countries are moving ahead with efforts to end malnutrition globally, the need for large-scale implementation and impact has never been...

On November 13-14, 2017, Alan Meltzer, Chargé d'Affaires of the United States Embassy in the Kyrgyz Republic visited USG-supported programs in Naryn oblast. In Jan-Bulak village, he joined a home visit by a community volunteer trained by SPRING, to o...

After 18 months of providing nutrition-focused assistance to communities in three regions of Senegal (Kaolack, Fatick and Kaffrine), the SPRING/Senegal project officially came to a close on September 30, 2017. To formally mark the end of the project ...

SPRING/Kyrgyz Republic, funded by USAID to address issues of chronic malnutrition and anemia among women and children of Kyrgyz Republic, hosted a round table event on Friday, November 17, 2017 to disseminate the findings from a series of four popula...

Nearly 100 people attended SPRING/Uganda’s close out and legacy event to celebrate the project’s five-year journey to achieve results in nutrition. Participants included representatives from the USAID/Uganda Mission, officials from different ministri...

The photo-to-illustration (PTI) process allows graphic artists to use photographs from the community as a reference to develop high-quality illustrations which are technically accurate, culturally acceptable, and attractive to audiences. These illust...

A group of USAID/Senegal and SPRING/Senegal staff observed a few of the activities initiated with SPRING’s support during a three-day field visit from September 19-21, 2017. The group visited six communities and saw nutrition-sensitive agriculture an...

At the ICTforAg 2017 conference, SPRING presented aspects of its social behavior change communication programming in Guinea. Phil Moses, SBCC Technical Advisor, shared how SPRING has developed video production units in Faranah and Mamou, Guinea that ...

Immunization, family planning (FP), and maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN) are all important aspects of primary care for women and children. There are many missed opportunities for integration which could further improve these servic...

In April 2017, SPRING/Guinea and Farm Radio International (FRI) led trainings in Mamou and Faranah for four local community radio stations on how to develop effective interactive radio programming to support the uptake of nutrition-sensitive agricult...

In 2017, SPRING/Ghana started piloting Father-to-Father Support Groups in four communities in the Northern and Upper East Regions of Ghana. These groups are comprised of 15-17 men who meet twice per month to discuss family-oriented issues that includ...

On April 25, 2017, SPRING/Senegal recognized World Malaria Day with local partner l’Association pour la promotion de la femme sénégalese [Association for the promotion of Senegalese Women] (APROFES) and Plan International, an implementing partner of ...

In April 2017, SPRING/Kyrgyz Republic and the Kyrgyz tele-radio company, Tumar, organized seven free concerts in seven townships—Jalalabad, Tash-Kumyr, Kara-Kul, Kochkor-Ata, Mailuu-Suu, Shamaldy-Sai, and Naryn—to raise awareness about nutrition and ...

From March 29-April 16, 2017, SPRING/Senegal is participating in the 18th Annual International Fair for Agricultural and Animal Resources (FIARA) to promote a multi-sectoral approach to improving nutrition, as well as products from partner producer n...

In February 2017, SPRING/Guinea and Farm Radio International (FRI) conducted a radio assessment in support of the USAID-funded Strengthening Market-Led Agriculture Research, Technology, and Education (SMARTE) program. The SPRING/FRI assessment identi...

March 8th, International Women’s Day, is a day to celebrate women and the successes they achieve every day around the world, including their contributions to nutrition and agriculture. As the global concept of work continues to change, it’s crucial t...

SPRING/Kyrgyz Republic, funded by USAID to address issues of chronic malnutrition and anemia among women and children of Kyrgyz Republic, hosted an event on Friday, February 10, 2017 entitled “Strengthening Linkages between Agriculture and Nutrition....

Nathan Park, Deputy Mission Director of USAID/Kyrgyz Republic, visited SPRING/Kyrgyz Republic on February 8, 2017 in Kok-Jangak rayon, Jalalabad oblast. Mr. Park was visiting USAID programs in the southern region, including a visit to SPRING activity...

On January 18, 2017, SPRING/Senegal facilitated a one-day workshop on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the region of Kaolack. The workshop was organized as part of SPRING’s strategy to improve the nutritional status of pregnant and lactatin...

As part of a strategy to effectively reach and support busy urban communities, the SPRING/Kyrgyz Republic project has launched a Facebook page, with plans to reach people in-country through other platforms. This page will be used as a platform to lea...

In December 2016, U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat, USAID Mission Director Janina Jaruzelski, and other senior USAID delegates visited a Farmer Nutrition School (FNS) in Baccharpara village in Khulna division. The delegation observed a n...

On November 7, 2016, SPRING/Sierra Leone and Helen Keller International (HKI) hosted a learning event in Lumley Beach, Sierra Leone, to share findings from three assessments conducted in Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone. The three assessments were a ...

Community radio programming using SPRING’s multi-channel approach was at the center of a recent community day in Thiarre Commune in the village of Thiokomaty, Senegal. In the morning, the SPRING/Senegal team and staff from local partner organization ...

From November 1 – 2, 2016, SPRING/Ghana hosted visitors from USAID/Ghana and USAID/DC for a visit to Karaga District in the Northern Region and Bawku West District in the Upper East Region. Rebecca Fertziger, deputy director of the USAID/Ghana Health...

Celebrated every year on October 15, Global Handwashing Day is dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an easy, effective, and affordable way to improve nutrition, prevent disease, and save...

Starting on 15 September 2016, SPRING/Kyrgyz Republic hosted a two-day Media and Messenger Training in Bishkek for 32 members of national media in the Kyrgyz Republic. The event focused on malnutrition, which affects women and children throughout the...

The “Breastfeeding is a Source of Child Health” event took place in Tash Kumyr on Thursday September 22, 2016 with about 110 people in attendance. The function began with remarks from the Health Sector Specialist from the Mayor’s office, the Director...

The “Healthy Nutrition - Healthy Youth” event brought together 102 competitors from the surrounding colleges of Jalal Abad, who participated in a 5 km distance run, rope pulling, and other competitions. In addition to the competitions testing strengt...

On August 18, 2016, SPRING/Bangladesh participated in a roundtable discussion entitled “Protecting and Promoting Breastfeeding: Challenges and Opportunities to Implement the Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS) Act 2013.” The event was organized by three US...

In July, the annual Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) conference, “Ensuring Availability and Sustainable Management of Water and Sanitation for All,” was held in Kumasi, Ghana. SPRING/Ghana took advantage of this in country opportunity...

SPRING/Bangladesh observed World Breastfeeding Week from August 1-7, 2016 by organizing over 100 rallies, quiz competitions, discussions, and several dramas and music performances in all 40 upazilas across Khulna and Barisal divisions. More than 100e...

A delegation of U.S. congressional staffers visited SPRING/Senegal programs on Tuesday, August 2, 2016, as part of a week-long tour of health programs in Senegal arranged by USAID and World Vision.The visitors represented the offices of Senators Rob ...

Experts from across several sectors are meeting this week in Bangkok at the Asia regional Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy Global Learning & Evidence Exchange (MSN-GLEE) hosted by SPRING in partnership with USAID. This diverse group of USAID Mission...

US Ambassador Sheila Gwaltney visited the USAID-funded SPRING project in the Naryn Oblast of Kyrgyz Republic on June 8th and 9th.On June 8th, Ambassador Gwaltney toured a SPRING-supported district hospital that provides maternal and child nutrition s...

Between March 28 and April 2 a team of evaluators from the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), UNICEF, and SPRING traveled to Kajuru local government areas (LGA), Kaduna State and conducted a mid-process assessment of the Community Infant and...

In 2015, SPRING/Mali set an objective to integrate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) into agriculture and nutrition-focused activities, through the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach in 100 villages in the Mopti region. Recognizing th...

Uganda, like many other developing countries, suffers from a significant burden of iron, vitamin A, and zinc deficiencies. Additionally, iron deficiency anaemia affects almost 50 percent of children between 6 – 23 months of age and 30 percent of wome...

Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister worked closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH), IBFAN Uganda, and other partners to host the 9th IFBAN Africa Regional Conference, which attracted approximately 283 participants from 14 African countries.With a...

At the close of the Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING) project’s fourth year of implementation, the project continued to reach a growing number of people with nutrition interventions in SPRING’s seven ...

SPRING recently conducted a nutrition assessment in Guinea to contribute to post Ebola virus disease (EVD) response efforts. Before the Ebola outbreak, Guinea faced chronically high levels of undernutrition and food insecurity. About 26 percent of ch...

Today, more people have access to mobile phones than to toilets, according to the WHO. While this may sound unbelievable, it is a daily reality for the 2.4 billion people without adequate sanitation. To highlight this lack, the SPRING project is part...