RFSP nourishes children in Jonglei state
By John Alier
Anyier Marial, nearly—2 year old girl—-saw her world upside down after birth in 2015. Her parents were living in Poktap after they returned from Awerial displaced camp. Poktap is among the places highly devastated during the crossing, a situation which forced children lactating and pregnant mothers to Poor feeding and lack of proper hygiene at the household levels.
The mother, Adior Thon, returned to Jonglei and settle in Poktap when Catholic relief Service (CRS) started starting distributing high energy biscuit (HEB).
“My child was thin, inactive, always cry and refused to play,” Adior said. The mother of this little girl acknowledged the positive impact of HEB on her child after she enrolled her for this support in April 2017.
Resilience and food Security Program ( RFSP ) distributes HEB to prevent physical and nutritional deterioration of IDPs or vulnerable groups in conflict affected areas. This activity satisfies the food requirement of Pregnant and children under the age of 2 years in terms of quantity and quality. The provision of HEB is the part of Supplementary Food Program (SFP) and aims to reduce the prevalence of malnutrition, and stop illness and deaths among those at-risk. HEB distribution implemented together with the DRR/FFA or can be implemented as a ‘stop-gap’ measure until sufficient food supply is established.
“USAID support especially HEB contributes significantly to improving the life of my child. She became active and looking healthy after just few weeks, thanks to USAID for giving HEB”.
Anthropometric parameters indicated a significant improvement on child nutritional status. Baseline measurements were taken before HEB distribution in April, 2017 indicated that the child Weight was 7.3kg indicating that the child was under risk of malnutrition. After the child received HEB, the post distribution measurements were taken two months later, her weight was 8.5kg. This second. The child’s weight increased by 1.2 kg, which indicated that the child status improved.
Children under below five years of age, pregnant and lactating mothers are always under threat of malnutrition due to poor diet and frequent sicknesses they face. Between February and September 2017, recovery and food security program (RFSP) provided HEB to 4,471 malnourished children and women in Both Twic East, Duk, Pibor and Akobo, countries, rescuing them from detrimental diet.
