Contribution of the A live & T hrive– Unicef advocacy efforts to improve infant and young child feeding policies in Southeast Asia

Bibliographic Data

ID15535642
AuthorsIsabelle Michaud‐Létourneau (0000-0003-2969-2779, Université de Montréal, corresponding author), Marion Gayard (Université de Sherbrooke), David Pelletier (0000-0003-0134-6460, Cornell University)
Year2019
Volume15
IssueS2
Pagese12683-e12683
Publication date2019-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMaternal and Child Nutrition (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1740-8695 • E-ISSN: 1740-8709
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/mcn.12683
PMID30793546
OpenAlexW2916584022
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited26

Evaluating the impact of advocacy for policy change presents many challenges. Recent advances in the field of evaluation, such as contribution analysis (CA), offer guidance on how to make credible claims regarding such impact. The purposes of this article are (a) to detail the application of CA to assess the contribution of an advocacy initiative to improve infant and young child feeding policies and (b) to present the emergent theory of change and contribution story of how progress was achieved. An evaluation applying developmental evaluation and CA was conducted on the Alive & Thrive (A&T)-UNICEF initiative in seven Southeast Asian countries to document the extent to which policy objectives were achieved and identify key drivers of policy change. A contribution story was developed based on these experiences. The advocacy approach, which involved a four-part process, contributed directly to (a) set the agenda of various actors and (b) create a strategic group; and indirectly to (a) set and maintain the issue on the agenda at all stages of the policy cycle, (b) support the government to carry out a set of critical tasks, and (c) extend commitment. All of this helped to achieve progress towards policy change. External influences were at play. The flexibility of A&T allowed key actors to utilize the positive external influences and address some of the negative ones through developing responsive strategies mitigating their effects. The emerging contribution story supports that A&T-UNICEF initiative contributed to the progress achieved in the participating countries

Economic growth · Economics · Flexibility (engineering · Government (linguistics · Management · Political science · Public relations · Set (abstract data type · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Computer Science · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Global Maternal and Child Health · Medicine

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access