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Partnership for Child NutritionSynergos is working with Unilever, UNICEF-India and Indian institutions to create sustainable, systemic solutions to child undernutrition. Unique PartnershipsThe Partnership for Child Nutrition is beginning its work in India, where it has created the Bhavishya Alliance, an Indian institution, to organize efforts.  Children in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India The Bhavishya Alliance is the first tri-sectoral child nutrition partnership in India. It is joined by a powerful group of Indian institutions including:
Ambitious GoalBhavishya's goal is to reduce severe undernutrition in the project areas by 90% by the end of 2008 and to contribute to reducing moderate and mild malnutrition by 50% by 2015, with a focus on children under three years, pregnant and lactating women and women of childbearing age. It also aims to demonstrate the efficacy of a multi-sectoral alliance to design, implement and govern programs to address complex problems such as undernutrition. Activities have started in Maharashtra, India's second most populous state (96 million), where 40% of children are malnourished. It will expand nationally, beyond Maharashtra, to other states. Despite enormous social, economic and technological advances since independence, India continues to suffer from extreme poverty and preventable diseases, including child malnutrition. 47% of India's children are underweight, a rate much higher than in other developing countries. By comparison, 28% of children in Sub-Saharan Africa are underweight. More than one-third of the world's malnourished children live in India. Action on the GroundThrough the Partnership for Child Nutrition and Bhavishya Alliance, programs addressing the many facets of undernutrition in India are now being implement in five rural districts of Maharashtra and an urban slum area of Mumbai. The programs are expected to impact 40,000 children in Phase 1 (through 2008) and 3.5 million children in the expanded Phase 2 (through 2010). The following integrated strategies form the core of the pilot programs:
These strategies build on, rather than duplicate, existing efforts. Further information on these strategic pillars and some of the specific initiative activities that fall within them are available in the program update. Distinctive ApproachThe Partnership for Child Nutrition seeks to rapidly catalyze action on child malnutrition by harnessing the knowledge, talents and resources of business, government, civil society organizations and affected communities. This multi-sectoral approach helps resolve deeply rooted obstacles that have blocked previous efforts to improve nutrition for India's children, including:
The Partnership convened a team 30 representatives from leading Indian business, government and civil society organizations that together possess the influence, knowledge and ability to make major advances on child undernutrition. It led this team through a program designed to foster multi-sectoral learning, relationship building and problem solving. Several high-leverage initiatives to reduce child undernutrition emerged from the program and are now being implemented. Through the relationships and trust built through the Partnership, further initiatives to address child undernutrition continue to be developed. Synergos in the Partnership for Child NutritionAs a founding partner in the Partnership for Child Nutrition, Synergos:
For More InformationDownload the Partnership for Child Nutrition overview, visit the Bhavishya Alliance website or contact:
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