Catholic Sisters pledge more nutritional support

Catholic sisters in the country have vowed to reduce stunting and improve nutrition status of pregnant women and children under the age of five through a three-year project.

The programme, Improved Nutrition for Pregnant Women and Children Under the Age of Five Project, will be implemented in Ulongwe, Namwera, Ntcheu and Monkey Bay in partnership with Ulongwe Health Centre and with financial support from Catholic Relief Services (CRS).

Speaking during the launch at St Gertrude Comensoli Nursery School, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kalembo in Ulongwe, Balaka, coordinator of Sacramentine Sisters, Sister Maria Mtepeka assured Malawians of her organisation’s commitment towards ending malnutrition problems which, she noted, have escalated due to this year’s devastating floods.

She said Catholic sisters want children and women from the most impoverished regions have access to quality and adequate food so that they are able to lift their families and their countries out of poverty.

In her remarks, Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Patricia Kaliati commended the Catholic sisters for embarking on the project at a time the country is mulling over ways of reducing malnutrition which currently stands at 47 percent.

She said the initiative is one way of complementing government efforts in its drive to reduce stunting and malnutrition in the country.

Ironically, two weeks ago, World Food Programme (WFP) launched an innovative stunting prevention programme in Ntcheu following a recent Cost of Hunger in Africa Study which found that Malawi experiences annual losses of about K258 million due to associated costs of child under-nutrition.

The WFP project will see 66 000 mothers and children take part in a drive to reduce child stunting by between five and 10 percent.