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SPONSORED FEATUREPartnership offers healthy startfor Lao children’s first 1,000 daysApoor diet lacking in nutrition can stunt a child and lead topermanent brain and cognitive incapacity. It can trap children in alifetime cycle of illness, poverty and inequity. This in turn affectscommunities. But thanks to a unique partnership between the LaosMinistry of Health, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), mining firmMMG Limited, and Population Services International, Lao children haveaccess to the nutrition they need for healthy bodies and minds.Poor nutrition contributes to more than a third of child deathsglobally. A healthy diet through the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, fromconception to the age of two, is a critically important foundation fordevelopment into adulthood.High levels of under nutrition remain one of the biggest challengesfacing Laos. Around 40 per cent of children under the age of five sufferfrom malnutrition and stunting and over 60 per cent of children underthe age of two suffer from anaemia. This means that without significant©UNICEF/2014/Laos“By mobilising a variety of partners to takeinitiatives such as this to communities mostin need, we can help change the lives ofmany thousands of families in Laos andassist in alleviating poverty”intervention a whole generation of Lao children will not meet theirphysical and intellectual potential.Through a multi-sector partnership, public health professionals,mass civil society organisations, volunteers and pharmacists have beenbrought together under the 1000 Day Project to distribute four millionsachets of nutrition supplements during the next two years to mothersin Savannakhet, Saravan and Attapeu, some of the most remote anddisadvantaged regions of Laos. In conjunction, the project is promotinggood feeding and hygiene practices for mothers of children aged betweensix and 59 months.The nutrition supplements distributed by the project have beenbranded SuperKid and each sachet contains vitamins, iron, zinc and othernutrients that are mixed into a child’s meal daily to prevent anaemia andcombat other illnesses caused by malnutrition.Food and nutrition not only play an important role in humandevelopment but also in a nation’s progress. Malnutrition in all its formsamounts to an intolerable burden not only on national healthcare systemsbut the entire cultural, social and economic fabric of nations.“The development of our country depends on providing children witha healthy start in the most critical stages of life,” says Laos Vice Ministerof Health, Dr Inlavanh Keobounphanh.The project is underpinned by a US$1.4 million, three-year investmentby MMG Limited, through its LXML Sepon operation, which hassupported the project pilot and implementation.“At MMG, our belief – we mine for progress – is reinforced throughour approach to employees, communities and stakeholder partnerships,”says Executive General Manager, Stakeholder Relations, Troy Hey. “The1000 Day Project is further evidence of this commitment to exploring newpartnerships for development.”UNICEF, the Lao Women’s Union and the Ministry of Health haveoffered expertise and facilitated the delivery of the project throughlocal school and health centres, where families with children are alsointroduced to programmes of healthy cooking and hygiene.“We hope our targeted nutrition programme will bring generationalscalebenefits to Laos,” says UNICEF Laos Officer in Charge and Chief ofHealth and Nutrition, Viorica Berdaga. “By mobilising a variety of partnersto take initiatives such as this to communities most in need, we canhelp change the lives of many thousands of families in Laos and assist inalleviating poverty.”