Dutch lawmakers who were in the country for a five-day visit, on Wednesday, had an open engagement with residents of Muhanga District during which they discussed nutrition and proper feeding habits.

The visiting MPs were touring a nutrition project implemented by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in Cyeza Sector.

The Kingdom of Netherlands through UNICEF and other partners is involved in fighting malnutrition under the project dubbed EKN in 10 districts of the country, including Muhanga, aimed at driving malnutrition to zero level.

The delegation advised parents with children under-five years to adopt comprehensive approaches to fight stunting.

The head of the Dutch parliamentary delegation, Sharon Gesthuizen, told residents that the delegation was pleased to see that their collaboration with UNICEF on health and nutrition in Rwanda has had an effective impact on the community.

"It is quite interesting that the programme has positively impacted the lives of children. We’ve seen the great work that has been done; the special food programme, kitchen gardens and health mentoring; we think they are going to create a big change in the health of people,” she added.

During the engagement, parents carried out different activities and were shown how to prepare various foods such as making soy milk from soy grain and making cakes from sweet potatoes.

They were also advised on monitoring children’s growth through weight and height measurements.

Oliver Petrovic, the UNICEF Rwanda deputy representative, stressed the need to sensitise people on problems related to malnutrition.

"We have come here with the Netherlands delegation to witness the achievement of the project we started last year and sensitise parents to use the resources at their exposure to fight stunting among children. We are amazed by what we found on the ground. We believe this project will be sustained and we promise to keep working with them,” he said.

Yvonne Mutakwasuku, the Mayor of Muhanga District, commended the contribution of all partners in the project.

"Since the launch of this programme, there have been various indicators of successes. According to this year’s statistics, we managed to reduce stunting from 54% to 38% which is a big achievement,” she said.

Beatrice Mukashema, a mother living in the area, told The New Times that the nutrition programme has changed their lives.

"Previously, our children suffered from malnutrition. We had everything, including potatoes, soy beans and other foodstuff, but we did not know how to prepare a balanced diet for our kids. But now with the skills acquired, nutritional diseases will remain history,” she said.

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