ID :
70298
Tue, 07/14/2009 - 15:05
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Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/70298
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Khalifa Foundation, GAIN ink agreement on reducing deaths, disabilities associated with nutritional deficiencies in Afghanistan
Abu Dhabi, July 14, 2009 (WAM) - The Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Charity Foundation and The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) signed a cooperation and partnership agreement whereby the UAE's agency will provide finance to GAIN's efforts to reduce deaths and disabilities associated with nutritional deficiencies in Afghanistan, particularly among women and children.
15 million individuals will benefit from the initiative launched in the agreement which was signed last Sunday by executive director HE Mohammed Hajji Al Khoori and the Executive Director of GAIN Marc Van Ameringen.
GAIN will use this grant to increase consumption of fortified foods (wheat flour, vegetable oil and ghee, and salt), and fortified complementary foods for children aged 6 to 24 months old. The funding will also support national efforts to generate sustained political support and commitment for the reduction of malnutrition. The goal of the three year project is to increase the amount of vitamins and minerals in people's daily diets and to reduce disabilities related to insufficient nutrients by 30 percent.
"Afghanistan has the third highest infant mortality rate (140 per 1,000 live births) in the world, after Sierra Leone and Angola, and is ranked second in the world for maternal mortality with an average of 1,600 deaths for every 100,000 live births, " says Marc Van Ameringen, Executive Director of GAIN. "GAIN, whose vision is a world without malnutrition, has a major role to play in this part of the world thanks to the support of the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation."
According to UNICEF, approximately 600 children under the age of five die every day from pneumonia, diarrhoea and other preventable diseases. Poor nutrition, including acute and chronic malnutrition and vitamin and mineral deficiencies (VMD) contribute to this high number of deaths.
Thirty nine percent of children under five years of age are underweight and 54 percent suffer from stunting or sub-optimal physical growth.
GAIN will provide resources, expertise, and technology to upgrade existing equipment and processes or to install technology to fortify flour and vegetable oil with vitamins and minerals. Activities to improve supply chain and quality control will be established. GAIN funds will also be used to purchase of blends of vitamin and mineral premix to be added to staple foods and to strengthen the salt industry to make salt iodization the business norm.
15 million individuals will benefit from the initiative launched in the agreement which was signed last Sunday by executive director HE Mohammed Hajji Al Khoori and the Executive Director of GAIN Marc Van Ameringen.
GAIN will use this grant to increase consumption of fortified foods (wheat flour, vegetable oil and ghee, and salt), and fortified complementary foods for children aged 6 to 24 months old. The funding will also support national efforts to generate sustained political support and commitment for the reduction of malnutrition. The goal of the three year project is to increase the amount of vitamins and minerals in people's daily diets and to reduce disabilities related to insufficient nutrients by 30 percent.
"Afghanistan has the third highest infant mortality rate (140 per 1,000 live births) in the world, after Sierra Leone and Angola, and is ranked second in the world for maternal mortality with an average of 1,600 deaths for every 100,000 live births, " says Marc Van Ameringen, Executive Director of GAIN. "GAIN, whose vision is a world without malnutrition, has a major role to play in this part of the world thanks to the support of the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation."
According to UNICEF, approximately 600 children under the age of five die every day from pneumonia, diarrhoea and other preventable diseases. Poor nutrition, including acute and chronic malnutrition and vitamin and mineral deficiencies (VMD) contribute to this high number of deaths.
Thirty nine percent of children under five years of age are underweight and 54 percent suffer from stunting or sub-optimal physical growth.
GAIN will provide resources, expertise, and technology to upgrade existing equipment and processes or to install technology to fortify flour and vegetable oil with vitamins and minerals. Activities to improve supply chain and quality control will be established. GAIN funds will also be used to purchase of blends of vitamin and mineral premix to be added to staple foods and to strengthen the salt industry to make salt iodization the business norm.
