Research
The ENN has gradually been expanding its research programme portfolio. There are currently two main ENN research programmes - infant feeding in emergencies and prevention and treatment programmes for moderate malnutrition in emergencies. These research programmes have, so far, received generous funding from the UNICEF-led IASC Nutrition Cluster and OFDA.
While the ENN is not primarily a research group, our networking and information dissemination role inevitably leads to identification of key research areas in the emergency nutrition sector. This has led the ENN to increasingly collaborate with experts and key interest groups, e.g. UCL Centre for International Health and Development (CIHD), IBFAN-GIFA, Save the Children UK, and Action Contre la Faim on a number of research areas.
A typical process is for the ENN to develop a research proposal in collaboration with potential partner agencies and to seek funding through its network of donor agencies. Once funding has been secured, the ENN and partner agencies will form a larger steering group of agencies and technical experts interested in the specific research area. Steering group agencies may then contribute data for analysis or support researcher visits to existing project sites for data collection and analysis.
The ENN research findings are invariably written up in Field Exchange, as well as being submitted to peer review published journals. The ENN considers itself to be privileged in that it is afforded a unique overview of programming experiences and issues in the field through its flagship publication, Field Exchange. In many cases this overview amounts to a sufficient body of evidence and experience to justify research on a specific theme or area. It is therefore likely that ENN will continue to pursue a research agenda and that the scope of the research programme will increase in the years to come.
ENN research focal points
Infant feeding in emergencies: Marie McGrath, email: marie@ennonline.net
Prevention and treatment of moderate malnutrition in emergencies: Jeremy Shoham, email: jshoham@easynet.co.uk
