Infant and Young Child Nutrition Project

The Infant & Young Child Nutrition Project (IYCN) is USAID’s flagship global project on infant and young child feeding and nutrition. The five-year project (2006–2011) is managed by PATH. The Manoff Group contributes to project management and technical leadership and also provides strategic communication services. The IYCN Technical Director and Country Program Team Leader are Manoff Group staff, serving as an integral part of the project team and senior management staff.

IYCN provides global leadership and direct support to field programs, aiming to deliver measurable results at scale to improve infant and young child growth and nutritional status, HIV-free survival of infants and young children, and maternal nutrition. IYCN focuses on the promotion of 5 major health/nutrition areas:

• Breastfeeding 
• Complementary feeding practices
• Infant feeding during illness
• Infant feeding and HIV
• Maternal nutrition

The project is active in more than a dozen countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, with comprehensive programs and offices in Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Lesotho, Madagascar, and Zambia.

Selected activities led by The Manoff Group include:

• Madagascar: Working with BASICS on initial breastfeeding, including use of a new nutritional program mapping tool that forms the basis for program interventions. Development of a National Action Plan and National Communication Strategy for Nutrition, Maternal Nutrition Strategy, training curriculum, and prototype aides focused on breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and maternal nutrition.
• Malawi: Research to support increased programmatic attention to feeding children during and post-illness, and to address barriers to adequate IYCN at both country and global levels.
• Technical leadership on cutting-edge issues such as operational guidelines on the use of Sprinkles to improve overall young child feeding.
• Zambia: Improving young child feeding practices through the introduction of appropriate complementary foods.
• Development of the IYCN communications strategy and related resources.