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NGOs Will Be Educators and Monitors to Improve Nutrition in Central Asia

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN (12 October 2001) - Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will be playing key roles as educators and monitors in the Asian Development Bank-supported regional program to Improve Nutrition for Poor Mothers and Children in Central Asia and Mongolia.

One of the country delegations during the Almaty Forum 2001 working on a country investment plan to improve nutrition for poor mothers and children in Central Asia.

International and local NGOs are participating in a Forum being held in Almaty from 10 to 12 October to develop a regional program to reverse an alarming rise in micronutrient deficiency that is producing mentally retarded and stunted children. Participants include public and private sector representatives from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The regional program will promote iodizing salt and fortifying wheat flour with an iron premix. It is being initially financed by a US$6 million grant from ADB's Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, funded by the Government of Japan.

NGOs representing consumers' associations and women's groups are part of each country delegation that is formulating country investment plans (CIPs). The CIPs will identify low-cost ways to implement the program, including communication strategies and monitoring and evaluation schemes. The NGOs will play an important role in the program's implementation since they have extensive contacts and support in local communities, as well as relevant knowledge and expertise.

On the supply side, the program will provide incentives for private salt producers, flour millers and bakers to fortify their products. On the demand side, it will create more awareness among consumers - especially pregnant women - of the need to consume nutrients vital for the healthy development of their children. Children denied such nutrients as iodine and iron from conception can lose an average of 13 IQ points.

"NGOs will be helping to generate demand for fortified products as well as monitoring their delivery. The program will be pointless if we can't persuade mothers of the importance of consuming fortified salt and bread," says William Fraser, manager of ADB's Education, Health and Population (East) Division.

Generating this demand will involve extensive information, education and communication programs in this vast region. "We need the message to reach each community in the remote places in each of these countries," says Philippe Heffinck, Almaty-based Area Representative for the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF). UNICEF and the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition are co-sponsors with ADB of the regional program.

"Informed choices by mothers for their children is essential for the project to proceed," says Joseph Hunt, ADB's senior health and nutrition economist who is coordinating the regional program. As well as social marketing, the NGOs will monitor public and private sector activity. "We are building public sector-private sector partnerships. The NGOs will make sure governments enforce new laws and trade reforms to promote fortification and also that private producers charge affordable prices for fortified products," says Mr. Hunt. He notes that, while fortification adds only marginal costs to production, some companies are over-charging for iodized salt and iron-enriched bread.

The program needs NGOs at all levels. For example, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is an international NGO active in one of Tajikistan's poorest provinces, Gorno Badahkshan. AKF helped civil war refugees in the 1990s, but now works in broader development activities, including health and nutrition. "We work with medical personnel through established village organizations in this mountainous region, which is logistically difficult," AKF nutrition adviser Evan McLachlan told the Forum.

Another NGO at the meeting is the Forum of Women's NGOs of Kyrgyzstan, which includes 57 women's NGOs. "We can help with communications, monitoring delivery and training trainers. We have contacts with women teachers in the villages," says Nurgul Djanaeva, President of the women's forum.

"Having NGOs as full partners in the design and implementation of the program is relatively novel in this region," says Mr. Hunt. "Some NGOs are skeptical, but we hope attitudes will change, just as NGOs will help to change behavior among poor mothers and children in persuading them to eat healthier food."

A web site will also enable NGOs in different countries to share information and experiences, says Gary Gleason, an ADB consultant in charge of the program's communications strategy. "It's extremely important that good work by one gets shared regionally," he told the Forum in a presentation.

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