Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in Madagascar campaign to reduce malnutrition in children under five

19 September 2019
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Following a WAGGGS Advocacy workshop, girls in Madagascar are now equipped with the practical advocacy skills to put their campaign into action.

Girl Guides and Girl Scouts of Skotisma Zazavavy Malagasy (SZM) have just taken part in an Advocacy training workshop in Antananarivo, Madagascar, as part of their WAGGGS Girl Powered Nutrition badge. During the residential weekend, the 25 girls learnt the key steps to develop a campaign and then the practical advocacy skills required to influence their community, improve national nutrition and share their knowledge with others.

“I’m really happy to participate in this Advocacy workshop. I didn’t know about talking to decision makers before but now, after this workshop, I am confident and bold to work as an advocate champion in Atsinanana region. I will explore the nutrition issues that affect girls in my region and will work according to my action plan!”
Andriamiarisoa Sylvia, Girl Scout, Kiadin’i Madagasikara

Girl Powered Nutrition Madagascar 3

Tackling malnutrition in children under five

The girls’ nutrition campaign and action plan will focus on the availability of nutritious foods and educational programmes around nutrition in schools in order to reduce malnutrition in children under five.

A growing number of girls are malnourished due to the poor availability and high export rates of nutritious foods, and the fact that unhealthy - and often dirty - foods are sold cheaply from street stalls. Nearly half of children under five experience stunting, due to low dietary diversity, access to health services, poor water and sanitation, and harmful dietary behaviours in pregnancy and adolescence.

Since the training, the SZM Girl Guides and Girl Scouts have now started work on their action plans, by firstly identifying the key decision-makers that they need to target to reduce malnutrition in children under five in Madagascar.

Becoming an advocacy champion

Features of the Advocacy workshop include:

  • learning what it means to be an advocacy champion in Madagascar and how they can lead the campaign for young women and girls all over their country
  • understanding global nutrition challenges and how they relate to nutrition in Madagascar, using the Social Development Goals (SDG’s) to back up their claims
  • gaining key skills in public speaking and working with the media,
  • identifying the change they wanted to achieve in their campaign,
  • developing and presenting their action plan and timeline.

Follow the progress and work of the advocacy champions in Madagascar, the Philippines and Tanzania on Twitter, at #GirlPoweredNutrition.

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