Save The Children and Care International in Laos are partnering with Luang Namtha and Luang Prabang provincial health departments to improve nutrition in 10 target districts of the two provinces.
The project will cost 47 billion kip (US$5.4 million) to roll out in seven 
districts of Luang Prabang province and 16 billion kip (US$1.8 million) to implement in three districts of Luang Namtha province.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on nutrition improvement in the two provinces under the Sustainable Change Achieved through Linking Improved Nutrition and Governance (SCALING) project was signed in Vientiane yesterday.
The MOU was signed by the Country Director of Save the Children, Ms Deborah Leaver, Country Director of Care International in Laos, Mr Saad Karim, Director of the Luang Prabang provincial Health Department, Dr Amphone Phalammixay, and Director of the Luang Namtha provincial Health Department, Dr Khamchanh Inthongxay.
In Luang Prabang province the project will be carried out by Save the Children and in Luang Namtha province by Care International in Laos.
Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony, Ms Leaver said child deprivation in Laos is among the most severe in the region, and stunting due to malnutrition affects 35 percent of children under the age of five.
Because of the dire need for assistance, she was particularly happy to sign the MOU and begin the SCALING project with partners.
“The SCALING project was initiated by Save the Children, CARE, Comité de Coopération avec le Laos (CCL) and ChildFund, and funded by the European Union (EU) through the umbrella initiative Partnership for Improved Nutrition in Laos,” Ms Leaver said.
She explained that the overall objective of the project is to improve the nutritional status of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and children under five years old in 14 districts in Luang Prabang, Luang Namtha, Phongsaly and Huaphan provinces.
The project operationalises the Lao government’s National Nutrition Strategy Action Plan and convergent approach and will continue until December 2021.
Dr Amphone said the project was crucial to improving nutrition for girls, pregnant women, and newborns in Luang Prabang province, and thanked project supporters and associated organisations.
The districts set to benefit from the project are Nan, Nambak, Pak-ou, Viengkham, Xiengngeun, Pakxaeng and the provincial capital Luang Prabang.
Dr Khamchanh thanked the EU and other entities for working to boost nutrition in Sing, Long and Namtha districts of Luang Namtha province, saying the project was very important to improve mother and child health.
An MOU on the SCALING project was also signed in Huaphan province last July, while an MOU for Phongsaly province was signed in November.
The total budget for the project is more than 108.6 billion kip (EUR 11,111,111). It runs from December 2017 to December 2021.
By Viengdavanh Banphahaksa
(Latest Update January 29, 2019)
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