Ehsaas Nashonuma Program To Fight Stunting & Malnutrition In 9 Districts

Ehsaas Nashonuma is the first anti stunting program in the country’s history. Earlier in August, program was formally launched and the government allocated Rs. 8.52 billion in the budget for the three-year Ehsas Nashonuma program.

In the initial phase, 33 Nashonuma centers have opened in nine districts. The districts have been selected on the basis of prevalence of stunting including Khyber, Upper Dir, Bagh, Ghizer, Hunza, Kharmang, Kharan, Badin and Rajanpur. Under the program, the beneficiaries would be provided with a quarterly stipend of Rs. 2,000 for girls and Rs. 1,500 for boys.

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To facilitate the beneficiaries, the government has designed an application to maintain the data of the beneficiaries, while special registration desks have also been set up for beneficiary women at all centers. Furthermore, the beneficiary women would be bound to attend the awareness sessions to be held in the regional languages.

According to SAPM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar “Ehsaas Nashonuma Programme will focus on improving nutrition and health in the first thousand days of the child life, the most critical period in early childhood development, starting at conception and finishing at age two.”

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On Tuesday, a new National Nutrition Survey (NNS) was launched that claimed that four out of 10 children under the age of five years are stunted in Pakistan.

The current survey shows four percent decrease since the last survey conducted in 2011, and that nearly two out of every 10 children under five also suffer from wasting.

The launch and dissemination of National Nutrition Survey 2018 report is taking place in Islamabad today. The survey was carried out by @AKUGlobal under the leadership of @nhsrcofficial, with support of @UNICEF and @ukinpakistan.#NutritionPK #ForEveryChild@UNICEFROSA pic.twitter.com/zu4ztB6KuQ

— UNICEF Pakistan (@UNICEF_Pakistan) October 20, 2020

In his first address to the nation, Prime Minister Imran Khan discussed stunted growth which affects 4 in 10 Pakistani children. 2 years on, Ehsaas Nashonuma, a comprehensive program to fight stunting & malnutrition has been initiated in 9 districts.

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