The African Union (AU) and Nutritional International joined forces to take an initiative to reduce malnutrition. Africa is home to more than 250 million adolescents, the largest cohort of young people in the world.
The continent is estimated to have 60 million cases of anemia in adolescent girls each year. No region of the world is on track to meet the World Health Organisation’s target, of reducing anemia in women and adolescent girls by 50 percent.
Why is the Campaign required?
With good nutrition, promotes an advocacy campaign dedicated to improving the health, well-being and empowerment of girls in Africa. The two-year campaign aims to promote public awareness of how inadequate nutrition is harmful for health and education.
What does the campaign do?
The campaign aims to persuade policymakers to prioritize investment in adolescent nutrition. By scaling up low-cost, high-impact interventions for the prevention of iron deficiency anemia and improved nutrition education.
What is the impact of Anemia?
Anemia impairs cognitive functioning, compromises school performance, reduces productivity and affects current and future reproductive health. This is why it is imperative for all AU member states to make reducing it a priority.
These steps are required to determine the direction of the African continent and whether it achieves the demographic dividend of these young people. The benefit of optimizing nutrition in this age group are enormous and demand urgent attention.
