Supporting nutrition security
Tackling undernutrition in Asia and Africa through a global EU-UNICEF initiative.
A four-year European Union UNICEF global nutrition initiative aims to improve nutrition security by permanently reducing under-five child and maternal under-nutrition in five Asian and four African countries. The joint initiative — with multiple regional, national and community partners — also aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout both regions.
The Asia programme, which includes Indonesia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, targets 30 million children and 5 million pregnant or lactating women. A girl carrying her younger sister in Adone Village in Ta Oi District, Saravane Province, keeps slices of cassava root away from a goat.
At the national and district levels, the programme includes mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. (Foreground) Ms. Daovanh, in Adone, is a volunteer with the Lao Women’s Union, which teaches pregnant women and mothers about proper nutrition and hygiene.
Also cross-sectoral, the programme links nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions. A staff member from Ta Oi’s maternal and child health centre discusses nutrition best practices with a young villager bringing lettuce back from her garden.
The Africa programme aims to benefit 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. In Karangana Village in Mali’s Sikasso Region, Griot Konimba Keita raises awareness about breastfeeding as part of a women’s support group.
While, in Indonesia, ‘cadres’ (volunteer community health workers) provide information on breastfeeding and child nutrition as part of the programme. Saniati, a UNICEF-trained ‘cadre‘ in Klaten District in Central Java Province encouraged her to breastfeed.
Raising nutrition awareness is improving child and maternal health. In Saravane, one of three provinces targeted in the programme, a volunteer from the Lao Women’s Union teaches mothers in Meu Village about the importance of micronutrients for their infant’s’ healthy growth and development.
Educating communities about the importance of different types of foods also helps to improve nutrition intake in households. At the health centre in Karangana, Sata Kone, from a Malian women’s support group, shows women how to make a nutritional porridge to supplement breastfeeding.
And at the local ‘posyandu’ (integrated community health post) in Klaten District, Central Java Province, a girl eats food prepared by ‘cadres’ — who are a direct link to women in their communities through the ‘posyandu’.
Key interventions to prevent child undernutrition focus on positive nutrition practices like breastfeeding. Matron Saran Konate, taking care of a newborn at the Karangana health centre, is part of a Malian women’s support group that promotes breastfeeding for babies up to the age of 2.
Staff from health centres travel to remote communities to provide health services and nutrition counselling as part of the joint programme. Health workers at the Tahuak Village health centre in Ta Oi District make preparations for an upcoming outreach visit to nearby Adone Village.
Outreach health services in Adone include distributing iron and folic acid supplements to pregnant women and providing them with the relevant instructions on how to take them.
Integrated health services also include growth-monitoring. A baby is weighed during a weekly session at the health centre in Mali’s Karangana Village.
Nutrition screenings are another vital component of the joint UNICEF/EU-supported nutrition security programme. In Adone, a child’s nutrition status is assessed using a mid-upper-arm circumference band. The yellow section of the armband indicates malnutrition.
Key interventions also focus on positive practices such as washing hands with soap — to guard against water-borne diseases that threaten child nutrition. A ‘cadre’ shows 3-year-old Novita how to wash her hands properly, at a local ‘posyandu’ in Klaten District.
Micronutrient powders, which provide an easy-to-use way for mothers and caregivers to improve their children’s vitamin and mineral intake at home, are also being promoted and distributed through the programme. A Lao woman in Adone Village fortifies food with a micronutrient powder.
Child and maternal under-nutrition can be eliminated with proven and effective solutions and through long-term commitments. In Indonesia’s Klaten District, ‘cadres’ created a ‘Baby Café to provide young children in their community with healthy, nutritious food to start the day.
Learn more about EU-UNICEF nutrition security projects.
