25 September, 2024
NEW YORK.— At the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2024 Meeting held in New York from September 23-24, Ulrick Gaillard, founder and president of the Batey Relief Alliance® (BRA), a long-time CGI partner, made a new Commitment to Action to improve maternal-child nutrition in the Dominican Republic (DR) and Peru by distributing micronutrients, anti-worm medications and nutritional supplements, and providing access to community WASH education (water, sanitation and hygiene) and health and HIV services to 54,000 children (6-59 months) and 9,180 pregnant women. The two-year commitment, at a cost of US $300,000, will benefit a total of 63,180 people, indirectly impacting 290,628 lives. Supported by its main partner, Vitamin Angels, the commitment aims primarily at improving the overall health and eating habits of the pregnant women population in order to ensure safer and healthier pregnancies and children.
Nutritional issues
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the insufficient consumption of micronutrients (i.e. iron, iodine, and vitamin A) affect the health and survival of more than 2 billion people worldwide (WHO, 2006). Children are particularly affected by this issue, and it is estimated that more than 1/3 of deaths in children five and under are attributable to undernutrition (WHO, 2006). Poor maternal nutrition during pregnancy increases infant and maternal mortality rates. Poor nutritional intake during nursing severely affects the health of infants making children more susceptible to illness and stunted development. For example, iron deficiency results in anemia, iodine deficiency during pregnancy can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, and mental retardation, and vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness in children and night blindness in pregnant women. Adequate nutrition is necessary in early childhood development to ensure healthy growth, proper organ formation and function, strong immune system, and cognitive development (WHO, 2006).
Malnutrition is a critical issue in Peru, where 34.8% of Peruvians live below the poverty line (WHO, 2010). High poverty rates, food insecurity and lack of resources to acquire adequate nutritious food affect nutrition and overall health for the country. Vitamin A deficiency ranges between 8.7% and 15.7%, 42.7% of Peruvian women of childbearing age (ages 15-44) suffer from anemia and 18.1% of all Peruvian children under 5 are stunted. Meanwhile in Dominican Republic’s impoverished rural communities like sugarcane plantations “bateyes”, malnutrition disproportionately affects children and women with the basic nutrition indicators below the national average. In 2013, 2% of children under 5 in the bateyes were diagnosed with acute malnutrition and 3% were overweight. For women from 15 to 49 years old, 46% were affected by being overweight or obese (UNPD 2014, CESDEM 2015, USAID 1999).
Response
Using a Health Equity-based holistic approach, BRA will distribute a total of 1,775,000 doses of vitamin A and deworming medications to 54,000 children and multivitamins to 9,180 pregnant women on a quarterly until 2026 at select schools, medical clinics, and community centers in various provinces of the DR and Peru’s Southern province of Cañete. 200 women will be trained as community health promoters who will reinforce vitamin distribution with educational and healthcare activities to emphasize their benefits, proper use, and other related topics. DR beneficiaries will receive monthly USAID-donated food products to supplement their dietary regimen and USAID/PEPFAR-funded health/HIV services.
Parents, medical personnel and schoolteachers will be trained to administer daily doses of vitamin A to combat child malnutrition. They will also distribute deworming medications to the children twice a year, as directed by product donor Vitamin Angels. Pregnant women will receive multivitamins and workshops on how to use the supplements effectively.
BRA will collaborate with local partner organizations, Caritas Huayos in Peru, BRA Dominicana in DR, and Ministries of Health to develop, execute, monitor, and report on the program. They will reinforce efforts through educational and healthcare activities to ensure that recipients do take their vitamins and deworming medications appropriately, are oriented on their benefits, and receive basic health and HIV services. The community health promoters will lead these activities, participating in distribution and education of beneficiaries about health crisis issues and prevention measures, including water, sanitation and hygiene, best prenatal care, water-borne infections. Annual physical checkups of the children and pregnant women will be conducted to measure the overall improvement in their health and wellness.
Impact on Women and Girl’s Equality
36,180 Women & Girls (9,180 women and 27,000 girls) will benefit from this commitment . Women will learn the critical role they play in society. They will see that by maintaining a healthier lifestyle, they could give birth to healthier children, thus avoiding exorbitant medical expenses to cure birth-related or avoidable diseases. Additionally, as community health promoters, they will also take charge of the health of their communities by educating their peers and young girls about health crises, prevention techniques and the benefits of being healthy.
About the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA)
Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) was founded in 1997 in New York by U.S.-trained attorney and philanthropist, Ulrick Gaillard, as a nonprofit, humanitarian aid organization. Over a period of 27 years, the organization’s programs have impacted the lives of over 4.5 million people affected by poverty, disease and hunger in the Caribbean and the Americas, mainly the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Peru. Through various commitments to action made with CGI since joining partnership in 2011, BRA worked to empower women through sustainable economic and agricultural development initiatives; provide clean water to rural communities; improve early childhood and maternal nutrition; and prevent the spread of the zika virus in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Peru and other parts of the region. BRA is an NGO accredited by the United Nations Organization through its Special Consultative Status of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and a Public Voluntary Organization affiliated with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)
Launched by President Bill Clinton in 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders from across government, business, philanthropy, and civil society sectors to take action on the world’s most pressing challenges, together. At the CGI 2024 Annual Meeting, these leaders, who have demonstrated success in solving these challenges, will reconvene in line with CGI 2024’s theme of “What’s Working.” Since its inception in 2005, 10,000 partners from across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in the CGI community have made more than 4,000 Commitments to Action, mobilizing billions in resources, and making a difference in the lives of more than 500 million people in over 180 countries. The CGI community of doers has a worldwide impact across five key focus areas—climate change, health equity, economic inclusion, women and girls’ equality, and humanitarian response.
