The Deputy RDC Moroto, Teko
Justine has blamed poor coordination among the many NGOs operating within
Karamoja for prolonging suffering among the local community.
Tuku made
the remarks yesterday while closing a High Level Dialogue organized by Food
Rights Alliance, FRA on Nutrition Financing held at Hotel Africana Moroto.
He cited
lack of transparency and failure by such NGOs to consult the local community as
some of the factors which are affecting the sustainability of their programs.
The lead
facilitator during the event Oluka Johnstone Okitoi,who is also a Nutritionist
Consultant working with Katakwi District Local Government asked stakeholders to
prioritize nutrition in their budgeting, in order to address some of the
challenges associated with malnutrition within the region.
Among them
is the reduction of the death of children under five years and losses in
productivity attributed to childhood malnutrition among other benefits.
He also
advised the district officials to scale up on data collection and analysis to
inform their decision.
The
stakeholders on their part appealed to government to find a lasting solution to
the perennial food shortage in Karamoja sub-region, which they attributed to
unreliable rainfall coupled with insecurity.
They called
upon government to promote irrigation activities in the region by constructing
more valley dams as the source of water for production.
Namusoke Isabella,
a Nutrition Officer with Action against Hunger informed the meeting that their organinisation
plans to address some of the water shortage during their five years.
The
organization will be operating in three sub-counties of Katikekile, Rupa and
Nadunget in Moroto district.
The dialogue
was organized by Food Right Alliance, FRA one of the organizations implementing
the Catalyzing Strengthened Policy Action for Healthy Diets and Resilience,
CASCADE which is a four year project aimed at improving food security and
reducing on malnutrition.
CAO Napak in
his opening remarks admitted the challenges of malnutrition within the region
and called for the revamping of the District Nutrition Coordination Committees
in the region as a way of improving on the nutrition challenges.
The dialogue
drew participants from Moroto and Napak districts.