Mapping multi-sector actions in Burundi and Myanmar: Towards more effective coordination

Burundi 

Burundi is a small, landlocked country in East Africa with just over 10.5 million inhabitants. It has high levels of malnutrition, including stunting prevalence of 58 per cent and wasting prevalence of 6 per cent³ in children under five years of age (CU5).

The Government of Burundi (GoB), through its SUN Secretariat managed by the SUN Focal Point, expressed interest in conducting the mapping exercise to gain a better understanding of the country’s nutrition landscape. Launched in January 2018 with the support of the UN Network Secretariat, the multi-sector mapping is enabling the GoB to gather valuable coverage data, by stakeholder and programme coverage.

This, in turn, enables the GoB to identify gaps, duplication and opportunities to coordinate nutrition actions across sectors and stakeholders more effectively. Where there is duplication, the mapping exercise will enable the government (and those supporting it) to reallocate scarce resources to other localities with a high malnutrition burden but which are receiving less attention. The GoB also hopes to attract increased investment for nutrition by pursuing this more efficient approach to scale-up. 

Engaging different sectors

The mapping exercise has also provided an entry point for engaging a notable number of sectors, including staff from seven ministries: Health; Agriculture; Trade and Industry; Planning and Finance; Environment; Local Development; and Social Security and Human Rights. Such wide-ranging engagement and government support has given rise to a dynamic mapping process in Burundi, which is being championed by the SUN Focal Point. The efforts are being coordinated by the Office of the Second Vice President, where the SUN Focal Point is based, and supported by a national mapping team. To date, more than 30 stakeholders have submitted data.

The mapping exercise can also contribute to creating a demand for multi-sector collaboration and instil this new way of working among sector-specific actors. Some actors reportedly do not see how their ‘regular’ work is related to nutrition or how it can be made more nutrition-sensitive. Others are preoccupied with their ‘regular’ sector work and struggle to devote time to multi-sector processes. Such challenges also include extending a multi-sector process to the provincial level⁴. The formulation of the new National Strategic Plan on Nutrition and Food Security (2019-2023) offers another opportunity to reinforce a multi-sector approach to nutrition. Key findings from the mapping process have been timed to feed into the review of the GoB’s strategic plan.

For example, a new multi-sector approach to implementing nutrition interventions is being implemented in two southern provinces, Makamba and Rutana. This combines the efforts of public administrative actors, NGOs, local civil society and religious authorities, grouping these stakeholders into a Steering Committee and Technical Committee. The Steering Committee, chaired by the SUN Focal Point, is responsible for monitoring the implementation of nutrition interventions and for better mobilisation of the various actors. 

Remaining challenges

It was important to emphasise the purpose of mapping when collecting data to overcome problems with sharing data, since some actors initially perceived the exercise as a means to control their work. The exercise also highlighted the need to better account for the coverage of interventions that are delivered through varying approaches (e.g. one-off campaigns versus routine services).

Myanmar

Like Burundi, the mapping exercise was government-led and used the same tool adapted to the Myanmar context. The Republic of the Union of Myanmar is home to approximately 54 million Burmese, with 135 recognised ethnic groups. The prevalence of stunting in CU5 is 29 per cent and 7 per cent are wasted⁵. However, these figures mask stark regional disparities, with some states and regions reporting wasting prevalence as high as 13.9 per cent and stunting of 41 per cent⁶.