The Sunrise Joint Venture (SJV) has provided $120,000 in support to Hamutuk Ita Ajuda Malu(HIAM Health) to implement the community plantation activity in Ermera district.
SJV-TL spokes man Antonio Campus dos Santos said that malnutrition was a national problem and the fight against it required all people’s support.
He said education was very important as malnutrition was caused not by food but by a lack of knowledge within the community.
Mr dos Santos said SJV was committed to helping the community of Timor-Leste to build capacity in the areas of education and health and to cooperate with communities on a grassroots level to fight against malnutrition.
SJV made the decision to allocate more funds to Hiam Health to help them broaden their activities after the organization showed it produced positive results in 2012.
“We see their results are good therefore we support them to widen their program in Ermera district,” dos Santos said when signing the agreement with HIAM Health and Alola Foundation at Timor Plaza, Dili.
HIAM health director Rosaria Martins da Cruz said the organization would focus on improving the capacity for implementation and disseminating information about nutritious food.
He said the program would not cover all places in Ermera but would identify one or two communities in the Railaco sub-district in Ermera Vila and Hatulia so that program could be implemented properly.
Community Health national director Carlito Soares thanked SJV for its cooperation with HIAM Health and said the latter’s program would help the Health Ministry to fight malnutrition in Timor-Leste.
He recognized that the rate of malnutrition was high but said the cooperation between the Ministry of Health and its development partners had helped significantly.
