Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Toolkit for Resourcing Families for Better Nutrition (RF4BN) in Humanitarian Contexts
Client:
Save the Children UK
Geography:
Afghanistan
South Sudan
Yemen
ServiceS:
Applied research and evaluation
Data analysis, viz, reporting
Capacity Building
SectorS:
Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA)
Health & Nutrition
WASH
Background
From 2021 to 2022, Save the Children implemented ‘Cash + for Nutrition’ in programming in three countries at risk of famine: Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Yemen, with funding from Save the Children Italy. These Country Offices used the Resourcing Families for Better Nutrition (RF4BN) Common Approach to develop and implement programs that combined cash transfers plus Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) and other nutrition interventions to reduce maternal and child undernutrition. In some cases, a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH) component was added. The focus was on acute malnutrition, targeting families that were either at risk of acute malnutrition or that had acutely malnourished women and/or infants.
While there is significant evidence that the RF4BN project improves nutritional outcomes in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, the teams in Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Yemen sought to explore whether the RF4BN approach could contribute to the prevention of acute malnutrition, and if outcomes could be achieved in programs of a short duration such as those common in humanitarian contexts.
To assess the impact of RF4BN programming in the humanitarian contexts, the team utilized a customizable monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning toolkit developed for RF4BN. Over the year, the teams carried out baseline and endline assessments, PDM monitoring, and routine cross-country learning events facilitated by Informed International.
Fredrik Lerneryd / Save the Children
What is RF4BN?
The Resourcing Families for Better Nutrition (RF4BN) tackles maternal and child malnutrition by combining three core components:
Regular cash transfer to families with are specifically designed and implemented to maximize impacts on nutrition
Social behavior change communication (SBCC) to raise awareness and provide information on health, nutrition, hygiene and good feeding practices for pregnant and lactating women
Support to linking families to basic maternal, child health, and nutrition services
The RF4BN Common Approach includes optional components of food transfers, micro-nutrient supplements, health service strengthening, improving clean water supply, or programming to support the delay of pregnancy and the improvement of nutrition for adolescent girls.
customizable meal toolkit for rf4bn programming
Through a collaborative process with Save the Children UK and Save the Children programming teams in Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Yemen, Informed International piloted and refined the Customizable MEAL Toolkit for RF4BN Programming.
This Toolkit includes resources to help you monitor, evaluate, and facilitate learning for your ‘Cash + Nutrition’ program in humanitarian contexts.