LAOS, EU, UNICEF TO BOLSTER INFORMATION ON NUTRITION

Posted by AsiaViews | Oct 11, 2018 | 0 |

Vientiane Times-Oct 8

The European Union (EU) has forecast a budget of around US$3 million to strengthen information systems for nutrition in Laos from 2018-2021 with the project to be implemented by UNICEF.
The new project, known as the National Information Platforms for Nutrition (NIPN), is part of ongoing development assistance to improve nutrition in the country and in support of the National Nutrition Strategy 2016-2025.
The NIPN project will be carried out at the National Economic Research Institute (NIER) over a 4-year period with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and support from related line ministries and partners.
The international initiative is being supported by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The nutrition information system will generate quality data, perform analysis, track progress and use the information for policy development, contributing to expanding and scaling up effective programs and allocating more public funding for nutrition activities.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Dr Kikeo Chanthabouly speaking at the project launch on Friday, said “The establishment and use of the NIPN initiative will help Laos to strengthen national capacity to manage and analyze information and data from all sectors which have an influence on nutrition, to track progress, and to disseminate and use information to better inform the policies and strategic decisions that prevent undernutrition and its consequences”.
The overall goal of NIPN is to contribute to the global reduction of stunting (chronic undernutrition) in alignment with the World Health Assembly 2025 targets.
Ambassador of the European Union to Laos, Mr Leo Faber stated that “Strengthening the multi-sectoral approach to combat all forms of malnutrition is also dependent on the availability of nutrition information and related systems. It is an essential step to establish a national information platform that has the capabilities to generate information for policy dialogue and debate and that will contribute significantly to how nutrition programs can be improved to meet changing conditions and the future context.”
Comprehensive data generated from the NIPN will be the basis for the National Nutrition Committee’s Annual Progress Report on the implementation of the National Nutrition Strategy to 2025 and Plan of Action to 2020 (NNSPA).
UNICEF Representative, Mr Octavian Bivol said having the system in place would maximize the analysis and interpretation of existing information and data on nutrition to understand better the factors that influence it.

‘https://laos.opendevelopmentmekong.net/news/laos-eu-unicef-to-bolster-information-on-nutrition/

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

LAOS, EU, UNICEF TO BOLSTER INFORMATION ON NUTRITION

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