Nearly 20% of children under 5 in Mauritania suffer from chronic malnutrition. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 80,227 children experienced acute malnutrition in 2022. Some of the reasons include pervasive poverty; reliance on farming, fishing, mining and livestock, which face threats from climate change and non-optimal food practices. In response, organizations like GRET, Red Crescent, ALIMA, UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) are working with mothers and other caregivers to fight against child malnutrition in Mauritania.

Keeping Mothers in the Know

In 2020, GRET partnered with the Rim Anje Project to launch a three-year project in 11 municipalities and 30 health care systems based in Gorgol and Branka. The project sought to assist health care providers in offering services for infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and teach pregnant and breastfeeding women IYCF practices. The project concluded on February 21, 2023.

During the process, GRET helped close to one hundred community contact individuals in overseeing and instructing Mauritanians, most of whom were women living in villages. They worked alongside breastfeeding and pregnant women in groups such as GASPA (Infant and Young Child Feeding Best Practice Monitoring and Learning Groups). GRET frequently hosted community discussions to guarantee that the mothers remain committed to abiding by healthy feeding practices. In addition to empowering mothers, it included other family members and people in the community.

In the future, GRET plans to work on two new projects: Rim Health and Amal, two organizations that are supported by Monegasque Cooperation for Development and UNICEF respectively. These projects will cover more topics such as sexual and reproductive health, ensuring good hygiene and providing access to food, drinking water and sanitation to young children.

The Special Bracelet

In 2023, the Red Crescent volunteers in Mauritania took steps to fight child malnutrition. They trained mothers to identify signs of malnutrition in their children using a special bracelet. Facilitator Rakia Salem, from a mother’s club established by the Red Crescent, explained the bracelet’s function: “[My role involves training mothers to screen children for malnutrition using the MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference) bracelet. It’s a simple, easy-to-use tool that can help prevent a deterioration in their health condition.]”

According to The World Health Organization (WHO), if a child’s upper arm measures under 11.5cm, they suffer from acute malnutrition. The bracelet is a unique yet not altogether uncommon instrument to assess malnutrition. In addition to Red Crescent, The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) trained 47,141 Mauritanians to use the bracelet since 2019. The project proved effective, as out of the 2,567 malnourished children under 5 that the alliance treated, 95% recovered in 2022.

Class Is in Session

On top of making use of the bracelet, Red Crescent taught mothers how to recognize signs of malnutrition and earn money. The mothers’ club turned out to be an effective place to diagnose children quickly, since, as Food Security and Livelihoods Manager Mohamed Abdallahi explained, mothers are around their children every day and are thus most likely to detect early signs of malnutrition. Currently, there are 10 mothers’ clubs in Barkeol, and the place affords women an opportunity to discuss maternal and child health, hygiene, sanitation and nutrition.

In Mauritania, 56.9% of the population lives in poverty. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that most families cannot afford to meet minimum daily food needs for their children. As a result, the Mauritanian Red Crescent also taught mothers to establish their own income-generating initiatives. Due to a grant from the organization, one of the clubs opened a relatively cheap food store in the village.

Stories From the Field

GRET’s results point to a positive trajectory. Aissata Ndongo, a midwife at the Mbagne health care center, assured that the training benefitted citizens considerably and helped combat child malnutrition in Mauritania. She added that the community contact persons raised awareness, and women now consult health care organizations to monitor their pregnancy and their babies instead of giving birth at home. Another woman who participated in the GASPA group spoke of the impact of GRET’s actions, “The GASPAs enabled several children to fall ill less often, thanks to the messages conveyed by the community contact person, and also by the health care organizations.”

Regarding UNICEF’s efforts to combat child malnutrition in Mauritania by admitting 27,829 children for treatment in 2022 and educating women, Hasseniya, a 16-year-old victim of early marriage, expressed gratitude for GASPA, “The community dialogue sessions helped me a lot. I was made aware of the importance of having prenatal consultations every three months and breastfeeding my baby immediately after birth.” Khadidiatou Mohamed Abdallahi, President of the mothers’ club, also appeared thankful for the Mauritanian Red Crescent, saying, “We used to have a lot of difficulties, but thanks to the support of the Mauritanian Red Crescent, we are now able to improve our families’ food security and diversify our children’s diets.”

Beyond “On the Ground” Work

In December 2022, WFP provided food and cash assistance to 54,000 freshly resettled refugees in Mauritania. To treat malnutrition in the Mbera camp, the organization offered specialized food and fortified oil to 600 children aged 6-59 months and 220 pregnant and lactating women and girls; and to prevent malnutrition, the organization provided nearly 3,500 children aged 6-23 months and 1,700 pregnant and lactating women and girls with food. In six other regions, 99 percent of children undergoing treatment for moderate acute malnutrition recovered.

Furthermore, the WFP assisted 400 schools in three regions with school meals. It also launched the Food Assistance for Assets (FFA) program, which offered insurance to Mauritanians who may be affected by climate change. Lastly, the WFP and ANGMV (National Agency of the Great Green Wall) implemented a mission in Timbedra and Djiguéni to assist communities dealing with food insecurity in the southern and eastern parts of the country through a debt-swap initiative between Mauritania and Spain.

– Mariam Jawhar
Photo: Flickr