BUJUMBURA October 20th (ABP) – The President of the Republic of Burundi, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye, opened Tuesday, October 19, in Bujumbura, the ceremonies of the high-level national forum of women leaders organized by the Organization of 1st Ladies of Africa for Development (OPDAD -Burundi) under the theme: “Women leaders, unite against malnutrition in Burundi”.
That two-day forum saw the participation of the First Lady of Niger, Mrs. Hadiza Bazoum and her delegation, the former First Ladies of Burundi, MPs, members of the government, representatives of the diplomatic and consular corps accredited to Bujumbura, representatives of United Nations agencies and others.
In his speech, the Head of State first welcomed the First Lady of Niger and asked her to convey, on her return, his greetings to his counterpart, the President of the Republic of Niger Mohamed Bazoum and to all Nigeriens. He, on this occasion, commended the initiative of OPDAD-Burundi to organize a forum of women leaders on malnutrition in Burundi, explaining that this will allow everyone to become more involved in combating malnutrition in Burundi.
The Burundian number one did not forget to point out that in Burundi, malnutrition is justified by the neglect and, sometimes, ignorance of Burundians of the benefits of a complete and adequate diet. However, in Burundi there is everything necessary to fight malnutrition, he said, urging Burundians to change mentalities and adopt good nutritional practices.
President Ndayishimiye recalled that to fight malnutrition, the State has instituted the program to increase production, especially in the agricultural sector, by sensitizing the population to work hard in that sector. He also mentioned the revitalization of agricultural policies to achieve an increase in sustainable production.
To promote the field of nutritional health, the President of the Republic called on national and foreign economic operators to support the government of Burundi in its program to increase production for the promotion of healthy health of the Burundian population, especially women and children. As for the ministries in charge of public health and agriculture, he invited them to redouble their efforts in monitoring the program to fight against malnutrition, by setting up, in all health structures in the country, a branch responsible for the fight against malnutrition.
In addition, he invited women leaders to get involved in reducing the prevalence of malnutrition by mastering how to mix foods according to their categories and their nutrient content. He also called on them to sensitize parents on the benefits of diet to ensure the promotion of good nutritional practices.
The Burundi First Lady Angeline Ndayishimiye, who is at the same time president of OPDAD-Burundi, reported that in 2020, this organization launched the “zero malnutrition” campaign, which spans a period of 5 years to fight against malnutrition in all its forms. She took the opportunity to indicate that the objective of this forum is to give the opportunity to Burundian women leaders to discuss the step already taken in relation to the fight against malnutrition in Burundi, to learn from the experience of others. countries and define other methods and strategies likely to eradicate malnutrition in Burundi.
The First Lady of Niger, for her part, expressed her satisfaction at participating in the said meeting and praised the way in which she was received, upon her arrival, in Bujumbura. She took this opportunity to convey to the President of the Republic of Burundi the greetings of her counterpart, the President of the Republic of Niger.
Ms. Bazoum stressed that in Niger, the problem of malnutrition also remains a public health problem, which is why, she pointed out, the government has drawn up a strategy for food and nutritional security and sustainable agricultural development whose results are beginning to give hope to the Nigeriens.