WB provides food packages to poor Moldovan children and mothers

Women and children from disadvantaged families started to receive food packages distributed as part of the Health Services and Social Assistance Project. About 7,000 pregnant women and mothers who breastfeed children younger than 6 month as well as over 12,000 children aged under two will benefit from food packages. The first tranche of the aid was distributed to over 17,000 mothers and children all over the country in June this year. According to a communique from the implementation partners of the project, the beneficiaries include children with slow development owing to malnutrition, children who suffer from anemia or have certain disabilities, pregnant women with pronounced anemia and whose fetus develops slower, HIV-infected and single mothers, mothers with three children and more or who live on incomes lower than 500 lei per family member, Info-Prim Neo reports. Every beneficiary will receive by a food package that contains rice, buckwheat, cereals, meat cans, sunflower oil, as well as special meat puree for children. Every package is accompanied by informative materials for mothers about how to raise a healthy child. UNICEF Representative in Moldova Alexandra Yuster said that the initiative is designed to help the smallest and most vulnerable children have a good start in life and to guarantee their right to survival, growth and development. The communique also says that the poor harvests during the last few years as a result of drought and floods as well as the financial crisis affected many disadvantaged families. Owing to a shortage of food products, these families cannot ensure an adequate nutrition for the children. Minister of Health Vladimir Hotineanu said that the aid is welcome as it will have a beneficial effect on the deprived families, especially the mothers and small children. According to statistical data, 8.4% of the Moldovan children younger than five are slow in development, mainly those from families in low incomes. The Health Services and Social Assistance Project is funded by the World Bank as a response to the global food crisis. It is implemented by UNICEF and the Ministry of Health in partnership with the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child and the Ministry of Local Public Administration.