About RajPusht
One in three newborns in Rajasthan are underweight. A majority of them eventually suffer from wasting, that is, low weight relative to their height. These problems stem from poor maternal nutrition and improper child-feeding practices.
To reduce the prevalence of low birth weight and wasting among children, RajPusht is working with the Government of Rajasthan to
- Provide cash benefits to enable pregnant and lactating women to buy nutritious food for themselves by strengthening two cash transfer schemes: Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) and the state-funded Indira Gandhi Matritva Poshan Yojana (IGMPY)
- Create an enabling environment to prioritise maternal nutrition through holistic Social & Behaviour Change Communication interventions
Our Approach
Build capacities of community workers to motivate mothers to eat adequate and diverse meals
Data-driven monitoring to inform programme design and bridge systemic gaps
Use technology to address challenges in birth weight recording and real-time data reporting
Engage with stakeholders at all levels for sustained programme support
Share lessons and evidence from the programme to inform policymaking and implementation
Locations
In its first phase, RajPusht is being implemented in Udaipur, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, Banswara and Baran districts in southern Rajasthan, which have a significant population of Adivasi communities.
While the Government of Rajasthan has reduced the burden of undernutrition in the state over the decades, low birth weight, wasting, stunting and anaemia remain serious concerns in these regions and they fare worse on nutritional indicators compared to other districts in the state.
According to the National Family Health Survey-4, about two-thirds of women in these districts are anaemic compared to the state average of 47%. While 37% of children under the age of five are underweight in Rajasthan, the corresponding figure is more than half in Udaipur, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh and Banswara districts. In Baran, 4 in 10 children are underweight.
An Initiative Of
Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
CIFF, the world's largest philanthropy that focuses specifically on improving children's lives, supports RajPusht. CIFF works with a wide range of partners. Its areas of work include maternal and child health, adolescent sexual health, nutrition, education, deworming, tackling child slavery and exploitation, and supporting smart ways to slow down and stop climate change.
To know more, visit www.ciff.org
IPE Global
IPE Global, an international development consulting group providing expert technical assistance and solutions for equitable development and sustainable growth in developing countries, is implementing RajPusht. Over the past 22 years, the group has successfully implemented more than 1,000 projects in over 100 countries across six continents and partnered with multilateral and bilateral agencies, governments, corporations and not-for-profit entities in anchoring the development agenda to address complex socio-economic issues.
To know more, visit www.ipeglobal.com
