MAPUTO– The European Union (EU) has agreed to provide Mozambique with 30 million Euros to support its campaign for improved nutrition over the next four years.
The drive to combat chronic malnutrition is being undertaken by the Ministry of Health through the National Health Institute (INS).
Geert Anckaert, the head of operations in the Economic Development and Governance section of the EU Delegation (Embassy) in Maputo, announced the financing here Thursday during the launch of a project to assess nutrition programmes and policies.
This project seeks to compile and analyse data on maternal, infant and child health in order to assess the effectiveness of health and nutrition programmes.
Anckaert told journalists: “We are supporting the government in implementing the national plan to reduce malnutrition. We shall also look at specific interventions in the areas of nutrition, water and sanitation. And we shall improve knowledge of nutritional data.”
The scientific director of the INS, Eduardo Samo Gudo, described the launch of the nutrition assessment project as an opportunity for all those collaborating in the project to discuss the question of nutrition in Mozambique.
Those collaborators include John Hopkins University of the United States, the National Statistics Institute (INE), the Food and Nutritional Security Technical Secretariat (SETSAN), and the Finance and Education Ministries.
Data provided by Claudia Lopes, the SETSAN Director of Policy and Planning, indicate that 43 per cent of Mozambican children under the age of five are chronically malnourished. In the northern provinces, this figure rises to above 50 per cent.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK