National Conclave on ending Under-nutrition among Tribal Children concluded

National Conclave on ending under-nutrition among tribal children concluded on 16 January 2015. The two-day conclave was organized by ST and SC Development Department of Odisha government, SC & ST Research and Training Institute, Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs and UNICEF.

At the conclave participants reaffirmed their commitment to end chronic under-nutrition of tribal children across nine Schedule V States.

The conclave ended with eight-point agenda to end the under-nutrition in these States. These are:
• Making nutrition of tribal children a political and bureaucratic priority to stir policy dialogue and coordinated action
• Setting up mechanisms for coordinating actions for nutrition, health, drinking water and sanitation and livelihoods at the highest level at both State and Central levels
• Universalisation of public funded crèches in tribal areas
• Disaggregated data on tribal nutrition through surveys
• Institution of weekly haat should be tapped to deliver services and take messages
• Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) has relevance and requires strengthening with more representation from all concerned departments
• Community nutrition and day care centres can provide meals to pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, counselling and linkage to savings groups and livelihoods options
• Civil society and faith-based organizations with established grassroots presence and credibility can increase outreach of services and information on government schemes and generate community demand