Minister Rai urges media to help make Golden 1,000 Days Campaign successful

Kathmandu / May 17: Comedy artists Jitu Nepal, Dipakraj Giri and Dipashree Niraula have been appointed promoter of the Golden 1000 Days Public Awareness Campaign for improved nutrition of children and women in Nepal.

Launched by the government in partnership with the European Union and United Nations Children’s Fund, the campaign aims at creating awareness of the importance of nutrition for pregnant women and their newborns.

The 1,000 days is a period between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second birthday.

A bilateral understanding was reached between Prof Dr Geetabhakta Joshi, member of the National Planning Commission (NPC), and the comedy artists with regards to their appointment, at a programme at the office of National Women Commission in the Capital today.

The programme was organised by the NPC, National Health Education and Information and Communications Centre with financial and technical help of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

At the event, it was shared that a new TV serial will also be launched regarding the campaign soon.

Meanwhile, speaking at the programme, Minister for Information and Communications Sherdhan Rai urged government and private media to prioritise the campaign to make it a success.

He also urged all to help spread awareness of nutrition for pregnant women and their children.

Likewise, UNICEF’s Nepal representative Tomoo Hozumi said that pregnant women and their newborns require additional nutrition, adding that so the campaign will help to this effect.

Similarly, NPC’s joint secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, cricketer Paras Khadka, also goodwill ambassador for the programme, and comedian Giri also spoke at the event.

At the programme, also attended by information secretary Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, officials deployed in 16 districts to oversee the programme were given orientation on the structure, organisation and communication strategy of the programme. RSS