Aim to tackle stunting and improve nutrition

Nutrition support helping to achieve the aim of stunting-free and healthy Balochistan.

Catering to the scattered population and wide geographical spread of Balochistan, ‘Ehsaas’ ‘Nashonuma’ Centres are being opened at the Basic Health Unit level to ensure easy access. The centres operating in collaboration with provincial government and the World Food Programme. To provide all ‘Ehsaas’ ‘Nashonuma’ facilities under one roof, three centres have been established in Kalat Surab and Lasbella.

Bibi Gul is a BISP beneficiary belonging to Killi Nichari, Tehsil Khaliqabad, and District Kalat. The village is about 36 kilometers from the district headquarters. She lives as a wife of a laborer and the mother of ten children. She found it pretty hard to feed her youngest son and keep tabs on her other children as well. On one lucky morning the Ehsaas Nashonuma social mobilization team came to enroll them in the program. She said that her husband will not allow her to visit the Naushonama centre as he cannot afford the transportation cost. MERF Social Mobilization team told her the importance of the program. The team conveyed the benefits of Supplementary Nutritious Food (SNF) and also the conditional cash transfer of Rs. 1500 to 2000 to beneficiaries. As such the travel expenses will be covered by the Ehsaas Nashonuma program. Hearing this she discussed it with her husband and asked for permission. Her husband not only gave her permission but also accompanied her in visiting the site.

She visited Ehsaas Nashonuma site where the staff received her and briefed on the procedure and compliance of the registration. Following vaccination and issuing of B-form, her child, Haroon was successfully enrolled in the program. A video on television was played in counseling room to provide key messages regarding Ehsaas Nashonuma, immunization, hygiene, IYCF, and a healthy diet. Haroon weighed 3.9kg and his MUAC was 8.7 cm. After counseling and registration, conditional cash of Rs. 1500 was transferred to her account. She was also provided with SNF for her child and was told to consume one sachet per day and feed it to her child directly from the sachet.

On her second visit of Ehsaas Nashonuma Facilitation Centre after 3 months she was quite happy with the program. She said that now Haroon is getting healthy and is more active as compare to the last visit. The staff noted body measurements of her child and this time he weighed 5.3 kg and his MUAC was 12.7 cm.

This is one achievements among many, Ehsaas Nashonuma program in Kalat, Surab, and Lasbela districts is currently helping BISP and Ehsaas Kafalat beneficiaries with conditional cash transfer and also providing SNF to pregnant and lactating women to prevent their children from being stunted. The commitment of MERF staff along with the strong support of the World Food Programme is helping to achieve the aim of stunting-free and healthy Baluchistan.