EU reaffirms commitment to address malnutrition in Sindh

Abdullah Jan

Karachi: In response to the rising malnu­trition crisis in Sindh, a two-year support action, funded by the Eu­ropean Union, aimed at strength­ening community based organi­zations in five districts to combat malnutrition was launched at a ceremony held here on Friday.

The initiative aims at addressing malnutrition in five adversely af­fected districts of Kashmore, Ghot­ki, Sukkur, Khairpur, and Nosher­oferoze in Sindh province. The 6 million euros project, co-fund­ed by the European Union, will be implemented jointly by the In­ternational Rescue Committee (IRC), Medical Emergency Resil­ience Foundation (MERF) and the Strengthening Participatory Or­ganization (SPO).

Speaking at the event Mr Carlo De Rosa, Development Advisor for Rural Development and Nutrition at the EU delegation to Pakistan, said that “from global experienc­es it is well established that en­suring nutrition security requires a collaborative, multi-sectoral ap­proach that involves diverse stake­holders, with local CSOs playing an integral role”.

He further stated that the pro­ject will improve the quality and coverage of interventions, foster synergies for ‘nutrition-specif­ic’ approaches and will ultimately provide an enabling environment to shape political, institutional and policy processes for address­ing malnutrition.

In her remarks, Country Direc­tor, IRC Pakistan, Shabnam Baloch, acknowledged European Union for it financial assistance to carry forward nutrition agenda and not­ed that “Cultivating a future free from malnutrition requires us to harness the strength and wisdom of local civil society organizations. They are the compass guiding us towards healthier, more vibrant communities.”

She further stated that nutri­tion matters for us and we at IRC are committed to strengthen­ing our programs to deliver nu­trition focused interventions for addressing the escalating im­pacts of Climate Change aggra­vating the malnutrition situation in Pakistan.

Through this project IRC, MERF and SPO will strengthen the ca­pacity of 15 local CSOs and pro­vide nutritional support to over 245,000 women and 415,000 chil­dren. Moreover, will also work closely with the Sindh health de­partment to improve the nutri­tion-related skills of 389 staff at public health facilities across the Province and increase their capac­ity in supply chain management and surveillance.

The joint effort of the EU, IRC and its partner Civil Society Or­ganizations will support the gov­ernment of Sindh in its efforts in reducing stunting and wasting among children and women.

This support is considered even more crucial in the wake of the 2022 floods which further nega­tively impacted overall population nutrition, not only in Sindh, but across the country as a whole.