Vice President Inonge Wina has called for timely intervention by leaders in the southern Africa region to address Early Childhood Nutrition.
Ms Wina said governments stand to lose if they do not invest in children’s early years of life.
She said the more governments delay to intervene, the greater the damage to numerous lives of children.
Mrs Wina said children must be given the opportunity to survive, thrive and transform into better citizens.
The vice president said this in her key note speech at the high-level forum on early childhood nutrition in southern Africa, in Maseru, Lesotho.
She said the hosting of the forum has therefore come at the right time, as the southern Africa region is prioritizing investment and development in member states.
The vice president also tabled Zambia’s efforts to secure early childhood nutrition with a view to promoting the personal development of children and economic growth.
And Lesotho’s Right Prime Minister, Thomas Thabane said malnutrition has been a long standing problem in Africa.
Dr Thabane said this has presented serious constrains on a number of countries’ development agenda, but that all hope is not lost.
Meanwhile, World Bank Country Director for Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Paul Noumba Um said only an integrated approach can help solve the malnutrition problem in the region.
Mr Noumba Um said the World Bank on its part has committed an additional 12 million dollars to Lesotho’s cause, and will do the same for other countries in early childhood interventions. King Letsie the Third of the kingdom of Lesotho, accompanied by her majesty Queen Masenate also attended the official opening.
