Italy group helps ethnic people have better meals

The Italian Association for Aid to Children is coordinating with a Vietnamese counterpart to carry out a nutrition education project for ethnic people in Bac Giang Province.

The Italian Association for Aid to Children (CIAI) is coordinating with a Vietnamese counterpart to carry out a nutrition education project for ethnic people in the northern Bac Giang Province this year, with priority for the mountainous district of Son Dong.

Ethnic women and children are priority targets of the project to help raise awareness about food safety, cultivation and nutrition

The target of the project is to train and raise awareness among ethnic locals about food safety, cultivation and nutrition especially for women and children.

By the end of this year, the project is expected to achieve the followings: a hundred percent of locals in three pilot communes Duong Huu, Van Son and An Lap will have had better knowledge of nutrition; 152 pregnant women and 300 children aged 2-4 years will have enjoyed nutritious supplements; and over 800 pupils will have attended activities related to nutrition improvement.

Besides, locals will also get donations from the fund of the project. Each of the 340 households in the district is to be subsidized a total of 15kg of rice and 15kg of beans. 40 of the 340 households will get an addition of five chickens or ducks each.

To meet the targets, the project will offer training courses on plants and vegetable cultivation and poultry keeping to help locals improve the nutritious quality of their daily meals.

60 officials in Son Dong will be trained in helping local residents when the project is over in late 2012.

The Vietnam Association for Protection of Children’s Right is the Vietnamese coordinator of the project.