PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Niger adopts national policy on nutritional safety
Niamey, Niger (PANA) - Aiming to improve the nutritional safety of its citizens, the Niger government on Friday adopted a National Policy for Nutritional Security (NPNS 2017-2025) and its multi-sectoral action plan for the 2017-2019 period, said a communique issued after the meeting of the Council of Ministers.
According to the government, this policy is a major tool for the operationalization of the food security policy of the Nigerien government.
Niger has subscribed to international initiatives in favour of nutrition, in particular the Sustainable Development Goals, the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement Strategy (2016-2020), the 2025 World Health Assembly targets and recommendations of the 2nd International Conference on Nutrition and the Malabo Declaration.
Niger has indicators whose threshold exceed the globally accepted levels as set by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to official figures on nutrition. The prevalence rate of malnutrition is 14.8% above the alert threshold of 10%.
Nearly one in five children aged five years (more than 1.5 million children) today suffer from chronic malnutrition. In addition, more than a quarter (27%) of Nigerien children (more than 225,000) are born every year with low birth weight.
Acute malnutritiont affects over a million children in the country, including at least 350,000 in the most severe form.
-0- PANA SA / IS/KND/AR 16Nov2018
According to the government, this policy is a major tool for the operationalization of the food security policy of the Nigerien government.
Niger has subscribed to international initiatives in favour of nutrition, in particular the Sustainable Development Goals, the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement Strategy (2016-2020), the 2025 World Health Assembly targets and recommendations of the 2nd International Conference on Nutrition and the Malabo Declaration.
Niger has indicators whose threshold exceed the globally accepted levels as set by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to official figures on nutrition. The prevalence rate of malnutrition is 14.8% above the alert threshold of 10%.
Nearly one in five children aged five years (more than 1.5 million children) today suffer from chronic malnutrition. In addition, more than a quarter (27%) of Nigerien children (more than 225,000) are born every year with low birth weight.
Acute malnutritiont affects over a million children in the country, including at least 350,000 in the most severe form.
-0- PANA SA / IS/KND/AR 16Nov2018
