“I was able to take this idea forward with the support of UNICEF after winning a Youth Innovation Challenge in 2016. Currently, I have a team of 20 youth volunteers working on nutrition awareness and advocacy through our network Sochai: Social Changemakers and Innovators.
Our SOCHAI –Youth for Nutrition project has already provided counseling to dozens of mothers with the help of the Nutribeads bracelet. As a part of this project, we have also trained adolescents, local mothers’ groups, and health workers.
Seeing mothers grasp the importance of nutrition and put in place measures to improve the health of their children has been the most rewarding feeling on this journey. However, the barriers to breaking the malnutrition cycle among the poor are heart-breaking.
I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to receive a quality education, proper health care, and nutritious food, without experiencing discrimination. But almost 25 percent of people in Nepal live below the poverty line and suffer from hunger and malnutrition. The situation has become even worse due to recent natural disasters.
Studying for a Masters in Nutrition and being a young woman, I aim to help break the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition through the economic empowerment of women. Empowering even a small group of women can set off a chain reaction in the community where they live, and inspire others to become economically independent. Involving women from poor and marginalized communities in the production and sale of Nutribeads bracelets can improve both nutritional awareness and income opportunities.”
Read my journey after winning the 3rd High-Level Meeting Youth Innovation Challenge.
The full article is available here I want to break vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition and here We are changemakers of present in the Uniting Against Poverty Blog by OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID)