Safeguarding Childrens Access to Good Diets, Services, and Practices
in East Asia & the Pacific during the COVID19 Pandemic

Why the Issue Matters

The COVID19 pandemic disrupted food systems, health services, and social protection programmes across East Asia and the Pacific (EAP). Children under five are especially vulnerable: reduced household income, school closures, and interruptions in healthcare delivery threatened progress toward nutrition targets and increased the risk of stunting, wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies.

Safeguarding childrens nutrition is not only a matter of immediate health; it influences cognitive development, school readiness, and longterm economic productivity. The pandemic highlighted existing gaps and created new challenges that require coordinated, evidencebased responses.

Key Challenges Highlighted by the Pandemic

1. Food Insecurity and Reduced Dietary Diversity

• Supplychain shocks: border closures and transport restrictions limited the flow of fresh produce, dairy, and animalsource foods.
• Loss of income: millions of households experienced job loss or reduced wages, forcing a shift toward cheaper, energydense but nutrientpoor foods.
• Schoolfeeding interruptions: in countries where school meals constitute a major source of daily nutrition, closures left children without regular protein and micronutrient intake.

2. Disruption of Health and Nutrition Services

• Routine growth monitoring, immunisation, and vitamin A supplementation were postponed in many settings.
• Community health workers faced mobility restrictions, limiting homebased counselling and supplementary feeding programmes.
• Health facilities diverted resources to COVID19 testing and treatment, reducing capacity for child health visits.

3. Social Protection Gaps

• Cash transfer programmes were often delayed or excluded informal workers, who make up a large share of the regions labour force.
• Foodvoucher or foodbank schemes were not uniformly scaled, leaving many families without safety nets.

4. GenderBased Vulnerabilities

Women, who are usually primary caregivers, faced increased unpaid care burdens, reduced access to health services, and higher risk of intimatepartner violence, all of which affect childrens wellbeing.

Successes and Adaptive Strategies

1. Rapid Expansion of Remote Nutrition Counseling

Countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines introduced phonebased and WhatsApp counselling for mothers, covering breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and hygiene. This approach maintained contact with families while respecting movement restrictions.

2. Strengthening SchoolBased Nutrition Through TakeHome Rations

When schools closed, several ministries distributed prepacked nutrientrich meals or food vouchers to students households. In Fiji, a homedelivery scheme provided weekly parcels containing fortified blended foods for children under two.

3. Leveraging Digital Payments for Cash Transfers

Indonesias Bantuan Langsung Tunai programme accelerated the use of mobile wallets, enabling faster disbursement of cash to vulnerable families. Realtime data helped target those most at risk of food insecurity.

4. CommunityBased Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) AdjustmentsCMAM teams adopted simplified protocols: reduced frequency of clinic visits, homebased therapeutic feeding, and use of readytouse therapeutic foods (RUTF) delivered by community volunteers.

Key lesson: Flexibility and use of existing digital infrastructure can sustain essential nutrition services during emergencies.

Recommendations for Future Resilience

1. Integrate Nutrition into PandemicPreparedness Plans
   National emergency response frameworks should include explicit nutrition objectives, funding streams, and monitoring indicators for children.
2. Scale Up Digital Nutrition Services
   Expand mobile counselling, SMS reminders for vaccinations, and telehealth platforms for growth monitoring. Ensure content is languageappropriate and reaches remote areas.
3. Strengthen SchoolBased Nutrition as a Core Social Protection Tool
   Develop contingency protocols that trigger takehome or foodvoucher alternatives automatically when schools close. Link these to cashtransfer databases for seamless targeting.
4. Improve Data Systems and Early Warning
   Use realtime household survey tools (e.g., phonebased FEWS NET modules) to detect rapid shifts in food insecurity. Integrate nutrition data with health information systems to guide rapid resource allocation.
5. Promote Local Food Production and Market Access
   Support smallholder farmers with input subsidies, digital market platforms, and safezone transport corridors. Encourage homegarden initiatives that enhance dietary diversity.
6. Address Gender Inequities
   Ensure cashtransfer programs reach women caregivers directly, and embed gendersensitive safeguards against violence in emergency shelters and health facilities.
7. Invest in Community Health Worker (CHW) Capacity
   Provide CHWs with personal protective equipment, digital tools for reporting, and modest stipends during crises to maintain outreach activities.
8. Secure Sustainable Funding
   Mobilise multiyear financing from domestic budgets, the Asian Development Bank, UNICEF, and other partners. Align nutrition funding with broader healthsystem strengthening.

Case Highlights from the Region

Vietnam Nutrition Hotline

A governmentrun hotline (2008002456) offered roundtheclock advice on infant feeding, maternal nutrition, and COVID19 precautions. Over 250,000 calls were recorded in the first year, with 85% of callers reporting improved feeding practices.

TimorLeste Emergency Food Rations

Leveraging the World Food Programmes logistics network, the Ministry of Health distributed monthly basic food kits to 150,000 families with children under five. The kits included fortified wheat flour, oil, and micronutrient powders.

South Korea Integrated Data Dashboard

South Korea launched a public dashboard combining COVID19 case data with nutritionstatus indicators from the National Health Insurance Service. Policymakers used the platform to allocate additional feeding vouchers to regions with rising child malnutrition alerts.

Looking Ahead

As the pandemic evolves into an endemic phase, the focus must shift from emergency response to building longterm resilience. This includes:

• Embedding nutritionsensitive budgeting across ministries.
• Creating regional networks for rapid knowledge exchange on best practices.
• Ensuring that climatechange adaptation plans incorporate foodsystem stability for children.

By learning from the challenges and innovations of the COVID19 era, East Asia and the Pacific can protect the right of every child to safe, nutritious food and essential health servicesboth now and in future crises.

Further Reading & Resources

• UNICEF East Asia & Pacific Nutrition and COVID19 Reports
• World Health Organization Nutrition in the Western Pacific Region
• Asian Development Bank Publications on Food Security
• FAO East Asia and Pacific Programme