Window of opportunity: Achieving nutritional impact through a five country community-based maternal and child nutrition project

Maternal and child nutrition during the first 1,000 days – the critical period between conception and age two – shapes a child's future. The Window of Opportunity, CARE's global maternal, infant, and young child nutrition project, was implemented in five countries (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Peru and Sierra Leone) from 2008 - 2013. The project was implemented in rural, resource poor environments and aimed to protect, promote, and support optimal infant and young child feeding and related maternal practices through advocacy and policy guidance, strengthening health systems, social and behavior change communication, monitoring activities, capacity strengthening, and sharing good practices. In order to assess the design, performance, and effect of the project, quantitative and qualitative baseline and endline data were compared for each country and across countries. Results indicate that the project was successful at building an enabling environment for improved nutrition, strengthening health systems for healthier mothers and children, and empowering individuals and communities to make good choices when it comes to nutrition. Moreover, our activities resulted in achieving improved nutritional status of children under two years. CARE's experiences and accomplishments can help to inform future global health programs and strategies. In particular, our achievements in building the capacity of governments and local partners to implement high-quality nutrition activities and to support the development of country-owned policies, programs, and tools have resulted in strengthened health systems and sustainable solutions that will have a lasting impact on the health and well-being of mothers and children.