UNICEF training package for scaling up skilled community infant and young child feeding counselors: Zimbabwe experience

Abstract

In the context of improving nutrition in Zimbabwe and other developing "countries, the need to build the capacity" of community–based healthworkers (CBWs) is well recognized.1 This capacity is needed to support mothers and caregivers regarding optimal infant feeding practices and timely referrals to health institutions for issues that may be beyond CBW expertise.2 In Zimbabwe and other developing countries facing a high burden of child "malnutrition,3 there is a need to increase" the numbers of skilled infant and young child feeding (IYCF) counseling services at the community level. "As a result, the United Nations Children s" Fund (UNICEF) global generic community IYCF training and counseling package was introduced in Zimbabwe in 2011.4 The aims of this great educational material are to describe the Zimbabwe experience with using the UNICEF IYCF training package and to recommend its use in similar developing country settings.