ISLAMABAD, OCT 19 (DNA) – The European Commission has provided €4 million (Euros) to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to work with partners for combating malnutrition among women and children affected by emergencies in Pakistan. Since 2010, the Commission has been supporting UNICEF to counter malnutrition, which is a key concern in Pakistan, especially in areas where people have been repeatedly affected by emergencies.

These additional funds will help UNICEF and its partners to increase the coverage of the ‘Community based Management of Acute Malnutrition programme (CMAM)’ in Tharparkar, Umerkot and Jamshoro districts of the Sindh province. The project aims to provide essential life-saving interventions covering a total population of approximately 1.4 million and providing nutrition services to more than 500,000 people.

“Women and children are particularly vulnerable to undernutrition, which has a dramatic impact on morbidity, mortality but also on children’s physical and cognitive development,”said Taheeni Thammanagoda, Head of Pakistan Office, the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO). “Fighting undernutrition is a priority for the European Commission and we have increased our funding to nutrition projects and programmes globally by 60% over the last six years.”

In close coordination with nutrition partners, including governmental and non-governmental organizations, the programme ensures harmonization in implementation and elimination of gaps and overlaps in delivering essential nutrition interventions.

It includes components to build service providers’ capacities, promotion of infant and young child feeding practices, micronutrient supplementation and deworming treatment for children and pregnant and lactating women.

Working with other nutrition partners, including the government, ensures that the program will fill critical gaps without duplication of efforts while delivering crucial nutrition interventions.

It includes activities such as promotion of feeding practices for infants who are being breastfed as well as children under two as they start having food, provision of essential vitamins and minerals and deworming tablets for children, pregnant and breastfeeding women.=DNA
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