EU, Unicef provide EUR 30 million to tackle child malnutrition in Mozambique

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EU, Unicef provide EUR 30 million to tackle child malnutrition in Mozambique

8:08 CAT | 16 May 2016

Unicef Mozambique (File photo)

The European Union and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have pledged to release EUR 30 million for the reduction of chronic malnutrition in Mozambique.This followed an appeal by Mozambique’s technical secretariat for food and nutritional security concerns for about 43 percent of children suffering from chronic malnutrition in the country.

In a statement seen by APA on Sunday, UNICEF said the central provinces of Zambezia and Nampula are the most affected.

A joint delegation made up of the Deputy Representative of the UNICEF, Michel Le Pechoux, and the European Union’s Economic Advisor in Mozambique has been touring the two regions to draw a balance sheet of the needs of the communities living there.

“The local governments in these areas have submitted the criteria proposed for the selection of districts to be covered with the implementation of the project for reducing chronic malnutrition in the country,” Le Pechoux was quoted saying in the statement.

The UNICEF official indicated that the selection of Zambezia and Nampula is due to the fact that the two provinces have high rates of problems related to chronic malnutrition in the country.

It is widely believed that the systematic challenges of food security and the poor water and sanitation conditions and inadequate health services are among other underlying causes for the chronic malnutrition in Mozambique.

Both officials explained also that in addition to the performance in the area of health, the programme envisages intervention in other multi sectoral sectors such as sanitation and the environment and agriculture.

According to Le Pechoux, the program implementation will begin in 2017 and will last until 2020.

“I am convinced that the implementation of the joint programme between the two partners of the Mozambican government in those parts of the country will galvanise the increasing access and use of services of nutrition, water and sanitation” he said.

Source: APA