A day-long advocacy fair was held at Shakhipur Union parishad premises in Debhata Upazilla of Satkhira district on Thursday.
World Vision Bangladesh organized the fair under its project titled ‘Right2Grow’.
This is the first ever initiative led by a civil society organization that reflects the different advocacy processes adopted by the project to address malnutrition among under-5-year-old children in the Upazila.
In the fair, a discussion session was also held where Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Asadujjaman was present as chair. Eefje van Vilmmeren from World Vision Netherlands was present as a guest of honor on the occasion, while other government officers like the Social Welfare Officer, Cooperative Officer, Women Affairs Officer, and five Union Chairman were present as special guests.
The participants appreciated the advocacy agenda adopted by the project to remove child malnutrition and the implicating agenda of joint efforts from local government and non-government organizations.
The speakers highlighted the power of the voice of civil society organizations that combine all actors in the advocacy process.
The Guest of Honor thanked the local government, especially the chairman, for generating budgets for children and expending those budgets with a documentary process by using budget monitoring and expenditure tracking tools that were introduced by the project.
The advocacy-focused project Right2Grow (R2G) is working in Bangladesh towards the goal that every child will be able to reach their full potential and its long-term impact that all children aged under 5 will be well nourished by engaging the private sector and putting child growth and mothers' health as the top priority.
The 'Right to Grow' project, funded by the Dutch government, has six consortium members in Bangladesh: Action Against Hunger (ACF), The Hunger Project (THP), World Vision International (WVI), Max Foundation (MF), Centre for Economic Governance and Accountability in Africa (CEGAA), and Save the Children in Bangladesh.
World Vision Bangladesh is implementing the program in all Union Parishads of Debhata Upazila under Satkhira district. In Bangladesh, the R2G project is being implemented in five upazilas and 40 unions in Barguna, Khulna, Satkhira, and Patuakhali districts.
