This document discusses challenges and opportunities for improving coordination on nutrition issues across different sectors and partners in various country contexts. It identifies issues such as inadequate participation in coordination meetings, lack of common agendas and transparency around resource allocation. It emphasizes the importance of knowledge sharing, developing joint accountability mechanisms like resource tracking, and providing leadership to build trust between stakeholders.

1. Bringing Country
Perspectives Together

2. Key Points
Coordination Arrangements
- Hosting of high level coordination mechanisms whether
supra-ministerial or line ministry is country context specific
- Challenges in adequately engaging all relevant sectors and
partners
- Knowledge and concensus of relevant skills needed for
coordination across the board and rules of engagement
- Inadequate participation in coordination meetings- low
cadre of staff
- Need for progress markers for coordination mechanisms.
- Lack of guidelines for management of conflict and clear
guidelines for MSP on how to handle conflict of interests

3. Key Points
Building Trust & Leadership
- Inadequate information sharing and communication between partners and
sectors
- Differing interests and competing priorities -lack of a common agenda to
accommodate all partner interests
- Competition for resources between partners and sectors , need for more
transparency in allocation of resources
- Inability to optimise organizational synergies especially in areas of overlaps
between mandates
- Fear of loss of power
- Challenges of leadership skills on how to engage all stakeholders

4. Key Points
Transparent Accountability Mechanisms
- Weak mechanisms of tracking progress and performance – resource
tracking and score cards
- Lack of transparency on resource sharing and distribution in
government and among partners
- Organisational plans and budgets not openly shared- having a joint
planning and review could diffuse tensions and lead to more
transparency
- Nutrition information not shared widely with all actors and
beneficiaries- it would help to increase awareness of resource
utilization and progress programme implementation
- Lack of a common results framework, clear roles and responsibilities
- Understand different accountability mechanisms that exist across
networks and partners

5. Key Points
Transparent Accountability Mechanisms
- Weak mechanisms of tracking progress and performance – resource tracking
- Lack of transparency on resource sharing and distribution in government and
among partners
- Organisational plans and budgets not shared- having a joint planning and review
could disffuse tensions and more transparency
- Nutrition information not shared widely with all actors and beneficiaries- helps to
increase awareness of resource utilization and progress programme
implementation
- Lack of a common results framework, clear roles and responsibilities
- Understand different accountability mechanisms that exist across networks and
partners
- Lack of awareness and the perception that nutrition is a health issue

6. Key Points
Knowledge sharing
- Knowledge is power and it strengthens all our positions by sharing
- Country networks using the media as a tool for communicating
messages
- Countries have communication strategies and advocacy plans
- Innovation of knowledge sharing through citizen engagement in
nutrition and accountability
- Platforms for knowledge sharing using local language and creating
linkages with the community structures
- Challenge for many countries in reaching the majority
- How to sensitise decision makers on nutrition
- No one size fits all