A sick and displaced woman watches as her malnourished infant sleeps at a health clinic run by the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Holland in Kerfi, a site for thousands of displaced Chadians some 50 kilometres south of the eastern town of Gos Beida, June 10, 2008. MSF have urged donors to provide nutritious food aid to help fight malnutrition among children
By LUCAS BARASA
October 15 2010
Medicins San Frontieres (Doctors without borders) launched the campaign at a function attended by two MPs and other stakeholders at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre on Thursday evening.
Currently, it said only 1.7 percent of food aid addressed nutrition.
MSF said donors should cease in-kind donations and instead provide cash to finance food aid interventions based on medical needs and at a cheaper cost.
“This is particularly true for the US for whom such a shift could save approximately $600 million-close to double the global amount estimated to focus on malnutrition in any given year,” MSF said in a statement.
It regretted that the current food aid by major donors, Japan, US and Australia lacked necessary vitamins and minerals for children's growth.
The organisation called for the signing of a petition to pressurise the food donors to change their policy and provide adequate food for young children.
It accused the major donors of double standards saying food donated as relief, including maize, was not consumed by children in their countries
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/1033366/-/view/printVersion/-/7i959w/-/index.html
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