Bangladesh and Canada co-hosted the launch of the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Year of Action on Tuesday.
Karina Gould, Canada’s Minister of International Development, and Zahid Maleque, Bangladesh’s Minister of Health and Family Welfare took part in the launching ceremony, said a spokesperson of the Canadian High Commission.
The Year of Action will culminate with the Nutrition for Growth Summit (N4G), to be hosted by the Government of Japan in December 2021.
As a result of the launch event, CA$520 million has been pledged towards Nutrition for Growth.
With the onset of the pandemic, the number of people suffering acute hunger is expected to double to 265 million by the end of 2020.
Experts estimate that globally, Covid-19 is likely to increase in the number of wasted children by 6.7 million, while the number of people in extreme poverty could increase by 49 million.
During the event, Minister Maleque said that Bangladesh will continue to invest in services that take a full life cycle approach to malnutrition—particularly for pregnant women, mothers and children.
“We will continue to strengthen nutritional education and counseling services, Vitamin A supplementation and de-worming programs, as well as large- scale food fortification. Our programs will emphasise women’s empowerment, enabling them to take decisions regarding their own and their children’s nutrition and wellbeing. And finally, we aim to implement 6-month paid maternity leave across all sectors to ensure that all new mothers have the time, space, and support to breastfeed exclusively for a full six months.”
As one of the largest donors to nutrition globally, Canada is committed to leading efforts to improve nutrition for the world’s poorest and most marginalised, especially women and girls.
This support will enable key partners to scale-up essential nutrition services for women, adolescent girls and children, as well as adapt programming to meet the new conditions created by Covid-19.
