Supporting human development from the beginning of life
For every human being to develop his or her potential, basic conditions are necessary in the gestation period and early childhood. Among these conditions, adequate nutrition and early stimulation are essential. Read More
“We serve 18 rural communities where there are more than 1000 children under the age of 5, 9 out of 10 live in poor households. Preventing or correcting malnutrition in early childhood is key to ensuring adequate human development and with it the possibility of enjoying opportunities for a life with well-being. Achieving this requires continuous nutritional surveillance through the control of each child’s weight and growth. At the same time, it is necessary to promote early stimulation, especially in the first two years, as it is a unique window of opportunity for the development of skills and behaviors for life.
The Agrolíbano Foundation implements the Comprehensive Care for Early Childhood Program, with the aim of contributing to the integral development of children under 6 years of age, promoting factors related to human rights, education, health and nutrition, which favor their growth and development, with the participation of the family, the school and the community.
Activities are carried out from the gestation period, promoting safe motherhood with pregnant women, their families, and the community.
With children from 0 to 5 years, monthly sessions are held to assess their weight, motor development, cognitive, language and socio-emotional areas are evaluated; in addition, educational activities are carried out with parents, counseling for the prevention of diseases prevalent in childhood and home visits to follow up on cases with some identified risks.
Complementary food is also provided periodically, both to pregnant women and to children under 5 years of age, to prevent malnutrition.
Records are kept for each child and at the end of the year the information is analyzed to assess the nutritional status of the entire target population.
Challenge
In 2013 child malnutrition was 14.7%, with continuous work it has been possible to reduce malnutrition to 5.1% in 2020. In the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, poverty has deepened, leading to a greater risk of malnutrition in children, which is why it becomes very important to continue and strengthen care for this population to mitigate the impact of the pandemic by preventing child malnutrition.
We aim for 2021, to contain the rate of malnutrition so that it does not exceed 6% in children under 5 years, for this we intend to maintain a coverage of at least 90% of children (900) cared for with the program.
As for pregnant women, we aim to serve at least 150 women during the year, with educational activities for health promotion and with a basket of products for the newborn baby at the end of the care period.”Solution