UNICEF has so far offered about 1/3 of the €1 million planned for supporting the national program for reducing disorders caused by iron and folic acid deficiencies until 2017, the Head of the UNICEF Representative Office in Moldova Nune Mangasaryan has told IPN when asked to comment on Deputy Prime Minister Gheorghe Brega’ request to the law enforcement bodies to investigate the inefficient spending of the money provided by UNICEF.

Nune Mangasaryan said that about US$300,000 was spent on seminars centering on flour fortification, on the organization of information-gathering visits to states where such programs are being implemented, such as Kazakhstan, and on the compilation of guidebooks. Equipment was purchased for outfitting a number of mills that will add iron and folic acid to flour.

Even if it is only six months until the end of the program, UNICEF hopes that after the reaction of the Deputy Prime Minister for Social Matters, some of the obstacles will be overcome and the legislation will be improved, including as regards the ensuring of monitoring over the fortification of flour so that the added amounts of iron and folic acid are not exceeded.

Deputy Prime Minister for Social Matters Gheorghe Brega recently said that the objectives of the national program for reducing disorders caused by iron and folic acid deficiencies until 2017 haven’t been achieved. He asked the Prosecutor General’s Office and the National Anticorruption Center to open investigations into the defective use of funds and inconsistency in implementing program.