FIDR is a non-governmental organization working to support children in developing countries and people affected by disasters.

What We Do

Issues the Project Tackles

Kon Tum Province, located in the central highlands of Vietnam, is one of the areas where the child malnutrition rate is the highest among 63 provinces and cities in the country. According to the data announced by Vietnamese government in 2018, one in four children under five years old in this region was underweight, and one in three children suffered from stunting. Also, one in 18 children died before his/her fifth birthday. These figures indicated the necessity for urgent countermeasures to nutritional issue.

Background of the Issues

Kon Tum Province is located in the southwest of Da Nang city, which is in central Vietnam, and at highlands sharing borders with Laos and Cambodia. In addition to its severe geographic condition, the province has scarcely received support from foreign countries. Therefore, residents have difficulty to get out of the poverty. Moreover, many ethnic minority people who live in mountainous area have few opportunities to obtain information on health and nutrition, and capacities of staffs engaging in healthcare service are highly insufficient.

Nutrition issue is influenced by various factors such as daily meals, customs, and hygiene conditions. This means the improvement of children’s nutritional status requires an approach of considering their lives comprehensively.

FIDR had conducted “Kon Tum Province Child Nutrition Improvement Project” for six years since 2012. We provided knowledge about nutrition and health for families having young children in Dak To District and Dak Glei District, and helped them with improving their lifestyles and their home hygiene conditions. At the same time, we contributed on capacity building of leaders who made local health care situations better. As a result, nutrition status of children in both districts was greatly improved.

Highly satisfied with this result, local authority of Kon Tum province requested FIDR to expand the support throughout the province.

*More information about “Kon Tum Province Child Nutrition Improvement Project”

Project Purpose

To improve nutrition status of children under five years old all over Kon Tum Province

Project Site

Nine districts and one city in Kon Tum Province, Vietnam (Kon Tum city, Dak Glei District, Dak To District, Dak Ha District, Kon Plong District, Kon Ray District, Ngoc Hoi District, Sa Thay District, Tu Mo Rong District, Ia H’Drai District)

Beneficiaries

Approx. 55,000 children under five years old and their families in nine districts and one city of Kon Tum Province

Main Activities

1. Improve nutrition status of children and hygiene condition based on the improvement of living condition.
2. Improve the agricultural environment and support the increase of households’ incomes.

Project Period

FY2019 ~ FY2023

Our Approach

1. Encourage parents to change their lifestyles, and provide them with knowledge about nutrition, meals in order to decrease the number of malnourished children.
2. Installment of toilet - washing – shower facilities in each house in order to improve hygiene conditions of the places where children are living.
3. Establish networks of local residents, and promote sharing of their knowledge and experiences so that they can take initiative in implementation of the activities.
4. Utilize the experience of the previous project in creating a model of improving living condition by making use of local resources such as human resource, experience, knowledge, traditional culture, etc.

Report from the Field