WB okays over $60m anti-stunting credit for Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has approved a credit of $61.6 million to contribute to the reduction of stunting among children under five years of age in Pakistan by targeting the most affected districts in Sindh, where children are below the average height for their age.

The Sindh Enhancing Response to Reduce Stunting project will support the expansion of measures to improve the nutrition status of mothers and children in Sindh’s 23 districts, where stunting rates are above 40 percent.

The project’s two components will increase the coverage of a multi-sectoral package of services to deliver results related to maternal and child nutrition, hygiene and sanitation practices and quality and diversification of dietary practices and strengthen key cross-cutting interventions for better management, communication, results monitoring and piloting of a conditional cash transfer programme.

“Stunting is a serious problem in Pakistan remaining unchanged for 50 years. It severely impacts the learning of children which puts them at permanent disadvantage in the age of the knowledge economy,” said Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank country director for Pakistan.

“The project is part of Sindh government’s ambitious accelerated plans to significantly reduce stunting in the province that incentivizes behaviour changes by providing a package of services.”

The project will target the nutritionally most vulnerable populations, including pregnant and lactating women (PLW) to improve their nutritional status and to reduce the risk of low-birth weight babies, and children aged 0 to 59 months, especially the first 1,000 days of life, when stunting and its associated pathologies were most preventable, and the following period when programmes could influence healthier future eating habits.

“Providing access to safe and reliable water, improved sanitation and hygiene are key to improving the well-being and productivity of citizens. Poor water and sanitation is detrimental to the development of people, and is a major underlying determinant of stunting in children,” said Francisca Ayodeji Akala, one of the Task Team Leaders of the project.

“By reducing waterborne and sanitation-related health risks that disproportionately affect the poor along with improved household diet diversity and early childhood stimulation, this project aims to reduce the rate of stunting in Sindh.”

The project aims to contribute to the reduction of the stunting rate by 1 percentage point a year, or from 48 per cent to 43 per cent by 2021.

The credit is financed by the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the poor, with a maturity of 25 years, including a grace period of five years.