Country Director at HOPE LIFE NOW PROJECT (INTERNATIONAL) - Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
Malnutrition affects one out of every three preschool-age children in developing countries. But research shows that increases in women's status and education strongly influence the long- and short term nutritional status of children, leading to reductions in both stunting and wasting. In South Asia alone, it is estimated that if women and men had equal status,there would be 13.4 million fewer malnourished small children.*The lives of millions of children can be saved each year, at low cost, with vaccines and micro nutrient supplementation. Almost every child can be reached with vaccines and supplements,even under the most difficult circumstances.*Breastfeeding and comlementary feeding can be contribute to preventing 1.4 million and 600.000 child deaths respectively, or just over a fifth of the total child deaths, each year. Breastfeeding rates are no longer declining on a global level and have increased during the last decade in many countries.* Climate change adaptation programs are helping growing numbers of poor, smallholder farmers reduce the vulnerability of their crops to increasing climatic uncertainties.