Parliament, Unicef Seek Solutions to Malnutrition

The House Speaker, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril last Friday January 10, 2014 held talks with the Resident Representative of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Félicité Tchibindat on ways of tackling malnutrition in Cameroon. Félicité Tchibindat after discussing with Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril told the press that malnutrition has consequences on health and education and some 33 per cent of children in the country are in agony of this.

"We have reduction in terms of cognitive development and this hampers the development of a country. It is an issue that should be taken seriously and we know that the government of Cameroon has signed up to be part of scaling up nutrition which is a global movement, a new global grouping of 40 countries aimed at scaling up nutrition through a multi-actor and stakeholder approach" said Tchibindat.

She said her coming to meet the Speaker of the National Assembly was therefore to push for more action as a key stakeholder. She explained that she was aware that over 50 Members of Parliament had grouped themselves to tackle the issue of malnourishment and it was time to commend their efforts. UNICEF intends to partner with the National Assembly for an information and sensitization campaign with Members of Parliament during the upcoming March session of Parliament for both partners to sharpen skills on how to roll back this phenomenon.

Notwithstanding, a visit to the Far North region is also on the agenda for law makers to see the reality of malnutrition. "We hope that MPs will be able to play a stronger role in tackling the issue," Tchibindat noted.