It has long been established that a combination of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions is needed in order to optimise the effectiveness of programmes aiming to reduce childhood stunting.
However, the implementation of multi-sectoral nutrition programmes is challenging as such programmes bring together a large number of partners – each which their own set of expertise, goals and knowledge. This can pose various opportunities and challenges for effective implementation and integration in multi-sectoral programmes. The Suchana programme is a multi-sectoral 6-year programme which aims to significantly reduce stunting amongst children under the age of two years in the Sylhet division in Bangladesh. The Programme is jointly funded by the FCDO and EU from August 2015 until June 2023. It is implemented by a consortium of international and national NGOs led by Save the Children Bangladesh (SCiBD).
IDS, alongside the Development Research Initiative (dRi) in Bangladesh, is conducting a final evaluation of the innovative multi-sectoral programme. To facilitate systematic learning and to provide action-oriented, transferable recommendations, the team is using a theory-based, utilisation-focused mixed methods evaluation approach that will draw on and triangulate a multitude of existing quantitative and qualitative data streams. To rigorously test whether a plausible case for attribution of Suchana to the observed outcomes can be made, the team will employ a confirmatory contribution analysis approach (CA).
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