NEWS- The Minister of Local Government, Raphael Magyezi has said that Uganda is a country that is well endowed with nutritious foods yet people are still struggling with malnutrition.
Minister Magyezi made the remarks today while speaking at the opening of a pivotal meeting focusing on the orientation of Local Government Political Leaders on Nutrition Governance from the 15 supported districts at Imperial Royale Hotel.
As the Minister responsible for overseeing local government functions, Hon Magyezi emphasized the importance of nutrition governance in ensuring the well-being and development of Ugandan communities.
“Malnutrition remains one of our critical challenges. We all depend on Nutrition to function. To make meaningful strides in fighting malnutrition a multisector approach is needed”, the Minister said.
The meeting aims at equipping local leaders with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively implement nutrition programs and policies across the country.
Hon Magyezi said that the Ministry of Local Government is working closely with various stakeholders to strengthen local government capacities and promote sustainable development and this initiative is part of the Ministry’s efforts to address critical issues affecting local communities.
He thanked the partners UNICEF and European Union (EU) for supporting improvement of nutrition standards in the country and Uganda Bureau of Statistics for provision of data and asked them to make use of the existing data and structures to provide evidence for our actions.
According to Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2.5 million adults are overweight while 2.2 million children under 5 years are stunted and some are wasted, half of the children who die before 5 years die because of malnutrition and for every 10 children in Uganda one is stunted.
Its reported that Toro, Kigezi and Karamoja have the highest number of stunted children under 5 years and the Minister said that the leaders should commit that no child in Uganda is stunted.
“That way our children’s future will be safely guaranteed. In 2024 we should not have any region in the country that is not food secure. Government spends a lot of money because of poor feeding. Leaders should communicate the right message that people should to eat the right food, in the right amounts ant at the right time” Minister Magyezi said.
Minister Magyezi reminded leaders on roles they play in the fight against malnutrition that include drawing up the nutrition action plans and assigning roles and responsibilities to the committees and CAOs to Identify the right technical officers to provide the figures and the reports.
He also asked them to carry out data collection, storage and analysis in their areas of jurisdiction and make stakeholder engagement, not only about food, but involve agriculture, lands, roads, water for production, health, education, finance and NGOs in the district.
The nutrition coordination committees should be established and they should regularly report to council through the DDEG Advocacy and communication plan and there should be a budgeting, finance, personnel delegated to addressing Nutrition concerns at family level and there is need to address behavior change and livelihood at the family level.
Quarterly performance reviews with respect to agreed targets and indicators and report and link up with the central government through the Ministry of Local Government to implement National Development Plan 4 and Sustainable Development Goals.
The Minister told leaders that the Ministry of Local Government will look for the resources through finance and development partners and will continue to train, engage, and monitor performance to make a difference in the lives of Ugandan people.
In his conclusion, Minister Magyezi noted that nutrition is at the heart of the survival of the people the Government is leading.
