Silver Spring, Maryland-In response to chronic malnutrition in the northern region of Mali, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency
(ADRA) has started a program feeding 3,600 malnourished children in the Gao province of Mali.

The program will run from February to July 2006, and is funded by the ADRA office in Norway. The total value for the project is $29,980.

"The project aims to identify children who are suffering from malnutrition and correct the effects of malnutrition by giving appropriate nutritional care and weekly monitoring for each beneficiary," said Karla Leitzke, country director for the ADRA office in Mali. Five health centers will be selected by ADRA in cooperation with the Ministry of Health to receive support and build the capacity of the health centers.

"Food distribution projects are extremely necessary in the Gao province due to the severe climate and environmental situation,"
continued Lietzke. The ADRA office in Mali has already established a partnership with 17 communities in the Gao region. The community committees and health centers will inform the communities about the project and the days that ADRA will be present at the health clinic to assist in diagnosis and distribution. ADRA staff will also work with the health staff to identify malnourished children, and to provide the training necessary to ensure that the health centers will be able to continue the procedures.

Beneficiaries of this program will be selected in accordance with a standard applied by other International Government Organizations
(INGOs) in the region to maintain consistency throughout the catchment area.
Children under the age of five and moderately malnourished children will be eligible to receive the food supplement, while severely malnourished children will be referred to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Mothers will also receive food for one week, as well as counseling to continue the treatment for their children. The children participating in the program will return to the health center until an appropriate weight is reached, and they will then be discharged from the program.
ADRA will work with the partnering health centers to ensure that they have the proper equipment and knowledge to continue to monitor the children after the feeding program has completed.

"This is our second intervention in Gao in the last five months to address the malnutrition situation," said Leitzke.
"The people in Gao always thank us for our effective intervention and commitment to help their children."

ADRA is present in 125 countries, providing community development and emergency management without regard to political or religious association, age, or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.