World Bank approves US $14.7 million for nutrition project

The World Bank is to fund a community nutrition programme in Senegal that will support the growth of poor children under three years of age. The programme will also build institutional and organisational capacity to carry out and evaluate nutrition interventions in the country, the World Bank reported on Thursday. The Nutrition Sector Enhancement Programme (NSEP), for which $ 14.7 million was approved last week, will also to support the nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women in poor urban and rural areas. It builds on an earlier successful Community Nutrition Project, in Senegal which was also supported by the World Food Program and a German NGO, Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau in urban areas. "The NSEP would adopt lessons learned from the Community Nutrition Project, emphasizing links to other projects such as the Social Development Fund Project as well as other interventions, to address the multiple underlying causes to malnutrition," the bank reported. Programme activities will be developed to reduce underweight prevalence and micronutrient deficiencies among children and women, reduce under-five child mortality by improving the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness at the community level. It will also increase access to potable water and sanitation facilities in targeted areas and improve the quality and quantity of food intake at home. It will also raise community awareness of malnutrition.