Infant Welfare: Spotlight On Birth Registration, Adolescent Protection

 UNICEF Cameroon on March 21, 2018 in Yaounde presented its 2018-2021 action plan.

United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF Cameroon held a press breakfast for journalists in Yaounde on March 21, 2018. The event offered the opportunity for French-born Jacques Boyer, the new UNICEF Cameroon Representative, who took office last January, to introduce himself to the press.

Boyer lauded the efforts of the Cameroon government over the years in ensuring the welfare of children, though some challenges persist. He noted that all children, especially the vulnerable, deserve to fully enjoy their rights to good health, protection against abuse and violence in order to participate in the development of their society. Boyer went on to present UNICEF Cameroon’s action plan for 2018-2021 that stresses three key areas - birth registration, protection of adolescents against sexual abuse and violence, and stunting, the result of chronic malnutrition.

Government, UNICEF Cameroon, the civil society and other partners plan to employ breastfeeding, complementary feeding, mother’s nutrition, micronutrients, treatment of diseases, access to quality health, sanitation and clean water services, to handle these challenges. The target is to reduce chronic malnutrition from 32 per cent to 25 per cent in three years.

Stunting affects an estimated 32 per cent or 1.4 million children under the age of five in Cameroon – the Far North, North, Adamawa and East Regions being the most hit. The consequences of stunting include mortality, morbidity, disability and poor performance at school, Boyer explained. Malnutrition is responsible for 45 per cen...