Eleanor Crook Foundation

?? We’re thrilled to announce we’ve partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and Kirk Humanitarian to launch the first-ever investment roadmap for scaling up complete prenatal supplements (MMS) to reach pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries. At less than two cents per daily tablet, MMS is a cost-effective solution that can prevent anemia, support healthy pregnancies, and give babies a strong start in life. https://prn.to/3XmoA2D

The ninth Africa Nutrition Conference in Cape Coast brought together 300 nutrition leaders and researchers from across Africa. As platinum sponsor, ECF partnered with Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. to host one of the conference's most attended sessions. Our symposium "Healthier Pregnancies and Brighter Futures for Mothers and Babies: Unlocking the Potential of MMS in Pregnancy" combined insights from Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Consortium, UNICEF Ethiopia, and the African Union on Multiple Micronutrient Supplements - containing 15 vital micronutrients to support the health of both mother and baby during pregnancy. Grateful to our partners, speakers, and all attendees for their commitment to advancing maternal and child health in Africa. https://lnkd.in/gfVJp4M8

Manisha Bogati is a 24-year-old teacher at a daycare center in Lumbini Province, Nepal. After three years of trying to conceive following a miscarriage, her family was overjoyed when she found out she was pregnant again. Manisha is taking MMS – a prenatal multivitamin – as part of a research trial being led by the Government of Nepal. A new visual story in Devex highlights the lives of pregnant women like Manisha and how government and community-led efforts seek to improve maternal nutrition. Read more about her story here ?? https://lnkd.in/dvnPkrFN Photo credit: Devex / Gorakh Bista

In Nepal, a government-led effort is exploring the benefits of prenatal multivitamins for addressing malnutrition among pregnant women. Female community health volunteers play a crucial role in identifying pregnant women in their communities at an early stage and ensuring they begin their antenatal checkups. Explore this visual story ?? https://dvx.cm/tubcnx #Sponsored by Eleanor Crook Foundation

Undernutrition during pregnancy can lead to babies being born too small. In Nepal, efforts are underway to explore the use of prenatal supplements to improve maternal nutrition. Explore this new visual story ?? https://dvx.cm/tubcnx #Sponsored by Eleanor Crook Foundation

Malnutrition is the underlying cause of half of all child deaths and climate change is worsening these outcomes. Those who suffer from the most severe forms of malnutrition often reside in the countries that contribute least to this crisis but bear the most devastating impacts, yet not enough has been done to rectify this inequity. As #COP29 concludes today, we must commit to implementing nutrition interventions as part of the climate agenda to address these critical issues. https://lnkd.in/d-54dU5s

We are proud to have participated in yesterday’s House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing, “Meeting the Challenges of Global Brain Health: Diagnosis and Treatment for the 21st Century,” where U.S. policymakers convened to hear witnesses discuss the impacts of malnutrition on a children’s brain development. ECF’s Yashodhara Rana testified at the hearing, sharing critical knowledge on the consequences of this crisis on children’s brain health and its effects on national and global security. She also shared how if scaled, cost-effective solutions, including comprehensive prenatal vitamins like MMS, can help prevent malnutrition and the related health and development consequences." Watch her testimony here, along with testimony from Gladys E. Maestre, M.D., Ph.D. (Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research), Benjamin C. Warf, M.D. (NeuroKids), and Andy Shih, Ph.D. (Autism Speaks). https://lnkd.in/diZVKg_n

“When [my daughter] was born, she was too little. But when I took her in my hands, I was very happy. I was becoming a mother for the first time.” Sheela Rokaya, 22, is currently five months pregnant with her second child. She lives with her parents-in-law in the south of Nepal’s lowland region, known as the Terai. Her first pregnancy was difficult – but this time, she has family support, and her in-laws do their best to ensure she has a varied diet with what they grow as subsistence farmers. She’s also taking a prenatal multivitamin through a government-led research trial, conducted in collaboration with Helen Keller Intl. Read Sheela’s story in Devex to learn more about how Nepal is exploring the benefits of prenatal multivitamins. https://lnkd.in/dvnPkrFN Photo credit: Devex / Gorakh Bista

"One in four children today is living in severe food poverty. That means 181 million children do not have the equal opportunity to grow, develop, and learn. 181 million minds are a terrible thing to waste." Super proud of Yashodhara Rana for her excellent testimony on the Hill this afternoon as part of a hearing on Global Brain Health. Supporting good nutrition from (pre-)pregnancy through the first 1000 days of a child's life not only helps them survive, but also thrive - with implications not only for the child's cognitive development but for their economic activity as well. Initiatives like the #MMSRoadmap championed by Kirk Humanitarian, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and Eleanor Crook Foundation can help children avoid being born too small and too soon, and give them the best start to a productive life.

Malnutrition is solvable. "No child should die from malnutrition when we have the tools to stop it. Affordable, effective solutions have long-existed but are still waiting to be deployed. We can do so much more." ~ CEO, Eleanor Crook Foundation To end global malnutrition, ECF invests in research, policy, and advocacy to scale up high-impact, cost-effective interventions, like the #Power4. Learn more about our work: https://lnkd.in/dHfQHA3Z #WorldChildrensDay #ChildrensDay