Spotlight on Malnutrition: CARE & USAID Empower Women to Reduce Stunting
SHOUHARDO: a big acronym with an even bigger meaning. It means “Strengthening Household Ability to Respond to Development Opportunities,” and to families in Bangladesh, it means a remarkable decrease in the number of children whose growth is stunted due to malnutrition. The program, implemented by CARE and USAID, finds its strength in empowering women.
“Empowerment Interventions” help women to fight sexual harassment, participate more in their children’s education, function more independently and freely in their communities, and make a greater impact on household decision making. The children of these women felt the effects of their mothers’ new-found empowerment, becoming less likely to be stunted than children whose mothers only received direct nutrition interventions. In less than 4 years, stunting in Bangladesh decreased by 28% as a result of SHOUHARDO. That is double the rate of the average US government-funded food aid program!
You go girls! (Sorry, we had to say it…)
Watch a video and learn more about SHOUHARDO, here.