SILANNS

Strengthening the Implementation of the Lao National Nutrition Strategy (SILANNS) is a project implemented by Caritas Luxembourg and Lao civil social organizations with partners from the Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion in the Ministry of Health. In order to implement the objectives of the Lao National Nutrition Strategy, which aims to speed up the response of food security by focusing on sufficient and safe food consumption, reducing the rate of disease caused by unclean and infectious food that makes the body unable to absorb enough nutrients. It also helps to solve the problem of malnutrition at the household and community level, including improving the safety and diversity of food and the health of mothers and children. The project also promotes the use of clean water and sanitation systems and provides a healthy environment and access to health services. Therefore, the program aims to strengthen the implementation of nutrition work according to the national strategic plan, so we can see the importance of nutrition and bring the objectives of the national nutrition strategic plan into action to make it a reality.

(SILANNS) aims to create a nutrition information management system and provide nutrition materials to be sustainable in the 3 target provinces and to create a coordination point with Lao social organizations at the local to central level to implement various policies and inquire assistance.

Most of the people who face malnutrition are in remote and poor areas, especially ethnic groups that are affected by malnutrition, such as: growth that is not equal to age has an effect on the development of nutrition, living and the risk of developing complications. In addition, the growth that is not equal to the age has created limitations in the ability of people in terms of education and professional development. Therefore, reducing age-related growth is one of the important factors for economic and social development.

The beneficiaries of this program are poor families, leaders of mothers’ groups, health workers, village volunteers and associations within the provinces in the 3 target provinces. The activities of the program support for improving the information system and promoting social behaviour change in relation to nutrition work, providing clean water and household toilet systems, providing medical equipment for mother and child work, supporting medical scholarships short-term care system, upgrading the treatment of malnutrition for medical staff and village volunteers, disseminating information on nutrition, improving local and national level coordination by organizing annual local level meetings with partners and annual lesson exchange meetings with partners within the target province.