This assessment was a 60 day consultancy by IMA International, looking at the training and capacity needs for five core Ministries in Bangladesh working to mainstream nutrition in policy and planning. The assignment was completed under the guidance of the FAO Bangladesh, the Meeting the Undernutrition Challenge (MUCH) team, in close consultation and collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh counterparts, especially the Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPMU) and the policy/planning wings of core Ministries, as well as development partners including donors and civil society organizations.

The Government of Bangladesh is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to ensure food and nutrition security for all citizens - including the most vulnerable households, mothers and young children - through a comprehensive approach to sustainable food availability, access and utilization for nutrition. Policy development has increasingly included nutrition as a key objective and there have been considerable efforts to create an enabling environment for the mainstreaming of nutrition in policy. To this purpose, capacity strengthening remains key to successful implementation of food and nutrition policies.

After an initial desk review to understand the development of food and nutrition policies in Bangladesh, a mixture of qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to conduct an institutional needs assessment including direct interviews, GAP Analysis, VENN diagramming, Action Planning, Focus Group Discussions, Participatory Mapping, field visits to Sylhet, and Mymensingh, and a Knowledge Management Assessment.  A huge well done to everyone involved in the improvements in nutrition for the people of Bangladesh!