DPM urges ongoing investment in nutrition

Laos will continue to promote investment in nutrition at the local level to create communities that can sustainably produce and have access to nutritious food.
Although the malnutrition situation has improved, investing in nutrition for local communities is still playing a critical role to meet the criteria for Laos graduating from least developed country status.
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Planning and Investment, Dr Sonexay Siphandone gave the advice at the official closing ceremony of the fifth annual National Nutrition Forum and the National Nutrition Committee meeting in Vientiane yesterday.

Minister of Health, Assoc. Prof. Dr Bounkong Syhavong, along with other officials from involved sectors and partner organisations attended the event. While the Lao Social Indicator Survey (LSIS-II, 2017) reported stunting has decreased from 44 percent in LSIS-I to 33 percent, significant disparities remain across the 18 provinces because some nutrition projects still lack support.
Dr Sonexay said the financing of the National Nutrition Strategy still relied heavily on external finance from development partners and despite the positive downward trend, significant disparities remained across the 18 provinces.
He said, we know that a constraining factor for policymakers has been the difficulties they face in tracking public spending in nutrition, both at national and provincial levels for your contribution in improving the nutrition situation of our people.
Ambassador of the European Union to Laos, Mr Leo Faber said the National Plan of Action on Nutrition had been costed in great detail; and the absence of a functional classification of the budget has prevented the compilation of comprehensive budget execution data in support of the National Plan of Action on Nutrition.
He said, “We call for the gradually increased government financing for nutrition as a sustainable response to nutrition challenges. Development Partners financing should complement, and not substitute, government financing on nutrition,” he said.
The theme of this year’s Nutrition Forum was ‘Investing in nutrition for human capital development, growth and prosperity,’ he edit.
The importance of increased investments for nutrition across sectors, particularly by government, for the development of a productive and prosperous society was stressed by multiple speakers and is key for the Lao Government to meet its goal of graduating from least developed country status and fulfil its pledges under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
UNICEF representative, Mr Octavian Bivol said “Today marks another important milestone in our continuing path towards eliminating all forms of malnutrition in Laos.”
He said much of the discussion focused on what investments in nutrition meant for building human capital at which children and young people are the core.
Participants showed their commitment to improving the implementation of the nutrition programme in Laos with the endorsement of an outcome statement which highlighted the need to increase public financing for nutrition.

By Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
(Latest Update December 11, 2019)