Yesterday, the Government of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD) announced $8.5 million in funding for a new project of Action Against Hunger and its partners in Guatemala and Kenya. The project, called Maternal and Child Health Initiative (MATCH), will contribute directly to the reduction of maternal and child mortality of over 1.2 million people in these two countries.

With this funding from the Government of Canada, Action Against Hunger’s MATCH project seeks to improve maternal, adolescent, and child malnutrition through promoting local feeding and care practices, nutritious foods, and supplements while simultaneously looking into wider nutrition security issues related to access to food and income. This initiative aims to increase the effectiveness of community referral systems, increase awareness of existing health services, and strengthen health systems.

The MATCH project will focus on achieving:

• Improved delivery and utilization of essential health and nutrition services.
• Improved maternal, adolescent, child, and infant nutrition.
• Improved management and dissemination of nutritional health information systems to inform local, national, and global decision-making.

Paula Tenaglia, Interim Executive Director of Action Against Hunger in Canada, expressed her gratitude for the Government’s contribution. “Action Against Hunger would like to recognize and extend our appreciation to the Government of Canada for its generous investment towards Maternal and Child Health.  Through addressing health and undernutrition we will not only save and improve lives, but we will contribute to building strong and resilient individuals, families, communities, and populations. We are pleased to be part of Canada’s efforts and we look forward, together with our partners, to making great strides towards improved maternal and child health for those most in need.”

The funding comes after Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s announcement in May 2014 committing $3.5 billion to improve Maternal and Child Health (MNCH) around the world. Thanks to Canada’s leadership and DFATD’s support, Action Against Hunger will ensure more Guatemalan and Kenyan children celebrate their fifth birthdays.