FIDR Foundation for International Development / Relief

Issues the Project Tackles

Kon Tum province is one of areas where the highest child malnutrition rate is observed among all 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam based on scrupulous survey we have conducted in 2011, we recognized problems that one of four children under two years old was low body weight and one of two was short height and especially babies were in malnutrition.

Background of the Issues

Vietnam achieved high economic growth lately, tall buildings and industrial parks were constructed in urban cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city, atmospheres of the cities have been greatly changed, and people’s living standard has been rapidly improving. However, mountain areas where many ethnic minority groups resides have been left behind from the economic development and they have difficulty in getting out of poverty. Children and women are the ones suffering from the influences mostly.

Kon Tum province locates in the southwest of Danang in central Vietnam, and at highlands sharing borders with Laos and Cambodia. The province has scarcely received foreign support until present and local people are lacking the knowledge of healthcare and nutrition, and capacities of staffs engaging in healthcare service are highly insufficient. Therefore, babies and infants cannot obtain substantial nutrition according to their growth stages and are susceptible to sickness.

Project Purpose

To improve nutrition status of children under two years old in Dak Glei District and Dak To District.

Project Period

FY2012～FY2015

Project Site

Dak Glei District and Dak To District in Kon Tum Province

Beneficiaries

・	Approx. 1,500 children under two years old in the target areas (including approx. 850 malnourished children)
・	Mothers having children under two years old, pregnant women, and women in reproductive age in the target areas.

Main Activities

1.	Improvement on nutrition and hygiene knowledge of pregnant women and mothers: Conducting training,forming networks
2.	Improvement of meals for children under two years old: Conducting cooking demonstration class, developing home garden, raising poultry
3.	Development of hygienic environment: Installment of simple latrine, provision of safe water
4.	Improvement on health care service: Training of village health worker, conducting workshop

Our Approach

We aim at reducing the number of malnourished children. We work mostly with mothers as when mothers gain proper knowledge and put them into practice in cooking their children’s meals and when the networks among mothers, village health workers, etc. are formed and functioned, it will be most effective in long-term perspectives in fulfilling the purpose.