A coalition of nongovernment organizations launched the Guimaras Children’s First 1000 Days Coalition (CFDC) Experiment, benefitting an initial 34 nutritionally at-risk expectant mothers from the 12 villages of San Lorenzo town.

Jose Lina, CFDC national chair, said the recipients were identified by village nutrition scholars or health workers as incapable of taking care of themselves during the first 1,000 days of life because of poverty and other reasons.

The general strategy is to raise awareness on the significance of nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life.

Targeted mothers and children will undergo direct intervention to ensure they are healthy, strong and nourished.

The food and supplements to be taken by mothers will be observed during the full cycle of pregnancy, six-month breastfeeding and the transition to semi-solid or solid food.

Mandatory vaccination will be given to mothers if needed.

Lina in his capacity as director of the Kapisanan ng Social Media Broadcasters ng Pilipinas, Inc., the social media arm of the CFDC, signed an agreement with the municipality of San Lorenzo for the CFDC.

The result of the experiment will serve as the basis for the improvement of the initiative, which they intend to also launch in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Mimaropa, Eastern Visayas, Bicol Region and other regions based on the prevalence of malnutrition using the data of the National Nutrition Council.

Lina also thanked First Lady Liza Marcos for gracing the regional launching.

He said they will be signing an agreement with other relevant departments of the government to address malnutrition.

“We need an all-government approach and all-society approach. All hands on deck because this problem of malnutrition during the first 1,000 days of life is a serious problem. Unless solved, the quality of our people, especially the young, will be compromised,” he said in an interview.

He added malnourished children are short, underweight, sickly and prone to diseases, thus affecting productivity.

“Our objective is to make our people BTS — brighter, taller and stronger. That is the overall direction. Hopefully, by November, although the government is attending to this program already, the government and the NGOs (nongovernment organizations) should already be in total unity as far as approaches and programs are concerned,” Lina added.

Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Melquiades Robles said the initiative “is one of the advocacies that was easily picked up by the First Lady” when approached about it.

Robles said the Mrs. Marcos “intends to have it part of the “Lab for All” project where services of the government are brought to the countryside.

“We are very happy that our First Lady has accepted this invitation to help you, to help the country take care of our children, our nation,” he said.

Nationwide, the coalition has 50 NGOs on board and targets to reach out to 500,000 expectant mothers annually.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, Western Visayas Regional Development Council chair and Bacolod Mayor Abelardo Benitez, Guimaras Governor JC Rahman Nava, heads of various regional line agencies in the region and Guimaras CFDC chair Dr. Michael Raymond Aragon also attended the launching. (PNA)