The last issue of the Field Exchange Magazine (August 2011), the most recognized magazine in the world of nutrition, highlights ALIMA’s will to work in partnership with national NGOs and the success of this approach. The article shows the importance of working in partnership with national NGOs and the emergence of essential national actors in the fight against infant mortality.

Based on the example of Niger, Field Exchange sheds light on the progress made in recent years in programs to fight malnutrition.

In Niger malnutrition is endemic and has experienced serious and recurring nutritional crises in the past few years. Since 2005 (a year of food crisis) protocols for the treatment of malnutrition have been significantly improved, particularly with a unique approach of implementing ambulatory treatment programs for severe acute malnutrition cases. In addition, other developments are emerging with regards to the treatment of global malnutrition and disease prevention.

Another noticeable effect is the development of national NGOs which are highly operational and proactive in nutrition, of which BEFEN (Wellbeing of the Woman and Child in Niger) and FORSANI (Niger Health Forum) are the most prominent examples. These NGOs have now become efficient key players in the reduction of infant mortality. Both organizations are civil society initiatives and they are engaged in improving the health system in their country. Thanks to several years of experience within international organizations, BEFEN and FORSANI have become experts in nutrition and demonstrate the need for collaboration between national and international NGOs. Field Exchange highlights the innovative aspect of such partnerships where projects are built in close collaboration, and which do not solely represent the support of an international NGO to a Nigerien one. Building on this success, ALIMA is also developing this approach in Mali, Haiti, DRC, and will continue to expand it into other countries such as Chad and Nigeria.

However, these achievements cannot be taken for granted; donors and actors need to be engaged in this process and must commit to long-term projects in order to build innovative and effective projects.  Together we can work towards reducing the incidence of malnutrition and infant mortality in the most affected areas. Inappropriate treatments are still given out today, innovative approaches are not systematically applied, and the free health care system for children and pregnant women is still limited.

Yet there are solutions. The introduction of preventive approaches to malnutrition, the development of operational medical research, the sharing of experiences among actors, the involvement of civil society and governments in projects, the training of national operational actors and the collaboration between humanitarian actors can help to create the synergies needed to achieve effective projects on the long term in order to drastically reduce child mortality.

Together with you, we are committed to this goal.

To download the article (in English): fx-41-web