Hedwig Deconinck is committed to advancing research and learning from practices in maternal and child health and nutrition. Recently, she has focused on the management of small and nutritionally at-risk infants under 6 months of age and their mothers (MAMI) care pathway. She serves as an ENN Associate and consultant for the USAID Momentum Integrated Health Resilience Project in South Sudan and Niger, as well as for UNICEF in DRCongo. Hedwig has recently led a scoping review of global guidance on vulnerable infants, conducted case studies on MAMI implementation in Pakistan, South Sudan and Yemen, and carried out a MAMI acceptability study in South Sudan.

Hedwig has worked in health and nutrition in fragile settings for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the Ghent and Louvain Universities in Belgium, Save the Children, FHI360 and other non-governmental organizations. She holds a PhD in Health Sciences and master’s degrees in International Health, Epidemiology and Anthropology. Hedwig is proficient in English and French, has moderate proficiency in Spanish, and basic knowledge of Arabic.