GAIN receives funding from the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan Foundation to fight malnutrition in Afghanistan
Geneva / Abu Dhabi, 12 July 2009 – The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has received funding from Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan Foundation to reduce deaths and disabilities associated with nutritional deficiencies in Afghanistan, particularly among women and children. The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan Foundation is based in Abu Dhabi.
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,1” 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 Nehayan Foundation which is based in Abu Dhabi.”
According to UNICEF, approximately 600 children under the age of five die every day from pneumonia, diarrhoea and other preventable diseases.2 Poor nutrition, including acute and chronic malnutrition and vitamin and mineral deficiencies (VMD) contribute to this high number of deaths.
• 39 percent of children under five years of age are underweight and 54 percent suffer from stunting or sub-optimal physical growth.3
• 48 percent of the population have goiter due to iodine deficiency and 53 percent of children under 6 years of age suffer from vitamin A deficiency.4
• Iron deficiency anemia among Afghan women and young children is also very high, reaching 61 percent and 65 percent, respectively.5
As most UN and emergency organizations are working to provide the most basic needs and services to the Afghan population who are still very much at war and in a state of emergency, GAIN will focus its efforts and added value by helping develop local fortified foods and increase demand for both humanitarian distribution and commercial sales. With the financial support from Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan Foundation, GAIN will implement projects in the following three areas:
1. Mass food fortification: the objective is to reach at least 15 million people with fortified staple foods and condiments (wheat flour, vegetable oil and salt).
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.
2. Infant and Young Child Nutrition: the objective is to cover at least 140,000 infants and young children with fortified complementary foods and other appropriate supplements.
GAIN will provide incentives and technical skills to the private sector to bring to market fortified complementary foods and food supplements. It will be an opportunity for Afghanistan to develop local production capacity.
3. Policy Advocacy and Capacity Building: the objective is to generate support and commitment through national standards for staple foods and other policies, and to build national capacity of both the public and private sectors to guide the implementation of fortification and child nutrition programs.
GAIN also has strong competencies in measuring impact and performance of its programs. GAIN will assess programs in Afghanistan to ensure they are operating on a cost effective basis.
“If malnutrition is not tackled now, the country’s economic, social and intellectual capacity will be compromised,” says His Excellency Mohamed Haji Al Khoori, Executive Director of the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan Foundation. “We are proud to be supporting GAIN to build the capacity of government and industry in Afghanistan to make a difference in Afghani lives through provision of nutritious food over the long term.”
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GAIN – the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is an alliance driven by the vision of a world without malnutrition. GAIN mobilizes public-private partnerships and provides financial and technical support to deliver healthier foods and supplements to those people most at risk. Our innovative partnership projects in more than 25 countries are improving the lives of nearly 200 million people. Our project portfolio is growing and our goal is to reach one billion people. Visit our website: www.gainhealth.org
KNZF – the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation was established in Abu Dhabi in 2007 by the president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The foundation is an independent entity dedicated to delivering aid and services to the poor and students in all parts of the world. Areas of focus include support for education, health and social service programs as well as the construction of schools, hospitals, and orphanages.
For further information: Karie Atkinson katkinson@gainhealth.org, and Farkhunda Al Bastaki falbastaki@khalifafoundation.ae
- 1. UNICEF Humanitarian Action Update – Afghanistan – 17 January 2008
- 2. UNICEF State of the World’s Children, 2008
- 3. http://www.unicef.org/sowc08/docs/sowc08.pdf
- 4. Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency - A Damage Assessment Report for Afghanistan - UNICEF, Micronutrient Initiative
- 5. Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency - A Damage Assessment Report for Afghanistan - UNICEF, Micronutrient Initiative
