When it comes to addressing malnutrition, not only does each sector — health, education, agriculture — have an important role to play, all development stakeholders from government to the private sector to civil society are vital actors as well.
And because multiple sectors and stakeholders are involved in efforts to promote good nutrition, there is a need to “look at which channels we can activate to benefit” those most at-risk of malnutrition, Dominic Schofield, director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition in Canada, told Devex on the sidelines of the Girl Power in Play symposium in Ottawa.
Schofield pointed to adolescent girls as a prime example of such at-risk groups.
“Adolescent girls are at the pivot of breaking the cycle of poverty and malnutrition,” he said. “Yet ironically they’re the most difficult to reach. … Public channels of delivery haven’t been effective in reaching them at large scale, and we need to look at a number of other channels to do that.”
The good news, according to GAIN Canada’s director, is that some interventions have now been proven to work and gone to scale, especially innovative solutions that leverage mobile technology. But for these interventions to work, multiple stakeholders need to be involved.
Watch the video above to know more about these innovative solutions.
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