COUNSENUTHCentre for Counselling,Over two decades of advancing nutrition, health, and sustainable development in Tanzania.
Founded in 1998 in Tanzania, the Centre for Counselling, Nutrition and Health Care (COUNSENUTH) was established by a group of young women nutritionists inspired by their experiences at the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre. They aimed to address malnutrition and health disparities through direct community engagement, starting with a small office in Dar es Salaam’s Upanga area.
In 2000, COUNSENUTH gained recognition with the publication of “Infant feeding in the context of HIV,” supported by IBFAN Africa. This booklet provided crucial guidance during Tanzania’s HIV/AIDS crisis, advocating for exclusive breastfeeding and safe infant feeding practices, sparking national debate.
COUNSENUTH expanded significantly in 2005 with a substantial grant from the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria, partnering with AMREF to enhance care and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS across Tanzania’s underserved districts, strengthening education and knowledge about prevention, care, treatment and optimal nutrition.
The organization furthered its impact through partnerships with Irish Aid and USAID, implementing large-scale nutrition and health programs aligned with national strategies. Their pioneering initiative, Village Health and Nutrition Days, started in Ruvuma, showcased effective community-driven health interventions adopted nationwide. COUNSENUTH’s overarching strategy of aligning its work with government policies, strategies and plans, and working within national and sub-national (LGA) systems in collaboration and coordination with Development Partners and other Civil Society Organizations works well and has been effective providing potential for sustainability.
COUNSENUTH operates offices in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Tunduru, Kigoma, and Mbeya, advocating for and working to improve health and nutrition, while addressing gender equality, women’s rights, climate change impact, education performance and youth employability; and good governance. Guided by their Five-Year Strategic Plans, COUNSENUTH continues to innovate and adapt to emerging global and national health goals and underlying challenges, aiming to sustain its legacy of improving people’s lives in Tanzania. The think global, act local strategy that COUNSENUTH uses encourages the organization to localize international and national knowledge, to use the advantages of the latest scientific evidence and share knowledge and best practices in providing local solutions to complex and pervading issues in health and nutrition; but also burning issues such as Early Child Care and Development, Education performance, Youth Employability, Climate Change, and Gender and Women Empowerment through a process of inquiry, that will respond to optimal health and families wellbeing.