In Rwanda, the United Nations works together to fight malnutrition alongside the Government

Olivier Wane is a Supply Chain Manager at Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), one of the United Nations’ key partners in health and nutrition projects. He helps manage the materials used to fight malnutrition in Rwanda, such as micronutrient powders which combat anaemia and other vitamin deficiencies.

Nutrition supplies like micronutrient powders, ready to use therapeutic foods (RUTF), fortified blended food, anthropometry equipment, registers and educational materials for health workers are often bulky as they arrive in large quantities. It can be difficult to store and deliver these materials effectively.

In 2017 and with renewal of funding support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the United Nations in Rwanda strengthened their joint nutrition project to support Government of Rwanda efforts to procure, store, and deliver nutrition supplies to fight malnutrition

In Rwanda, the United Nations operates under the “One UN” agenda, where UN agencies work together to improve results by drawing on all parts of the UN system. Under this project, World Food Programme provides warehouse storage space for nutrition supplies, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) helps integrate micronutrient powders into community nutrition programmes, as well as monitoring how people are using them.

“It is the Government’s responsibility to plan, forecast, and procure our nutrition supplies, and then monitor how well the nutrition programmes are implemented.” says Olivier. “But with support from the UN and SDC, we are much more cost-effective and efficient.”

But delivering nutrition supplies is not enough to end malnutrition. Communities and families must be trained on how to use them, as well as how to adopt healthier lifestyle choices which improve their family’s nutrition.

UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) are working together to help the Government train community health workers, and WHO even helps distribute educational materials on nutrition to schools in Rwandan communities and supports the Government to train teachers on how to use those materials. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) helps develop and distribute nutritional guidelines, such as complementary feeding of young children over the age of 6 months.

“The improvements in our supply chain have been remarkable,” reiterates Olivier. “Not only have we improved storage and distribution, but our team at RBC has gained a lot of knowledge and experience which helps us manage these supplies more effectively.”

Ending malnutrition must be a group effort, accomplished only through strong partnerships. Combining the experience and expertise of different UN agencies in Rwanda is key to ensuring the Government reaches its development goals and improves the lives of its people.